Jedi Twins
by No One's Fool
Summary: Kyle and Kaily Tyler are twins at Jedi High. This is their story. T for death and slight violence. ONESHOT


**Jedi Twins**

Prologue:

"Two of them? Two?!"

Olivia Tyler looked at her husband. "Yes, there are two of them. Aren't you happy?"

Guy Tyler looked at his twins, a boy and a girl. "What shall we call them?"

15 years later...

Kyle and Kaily Tyler looked at their parents, a few tears in Kaily's eyes. The twins were going to the Jedi academy to train. They turned from the skycar and frowned up at the pyramid before them. Kaily sniffed, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, then started for the temple. Kyle hesitated for a moment, then followed his sister. He was older by 10 minutes, but Kaily didn't care.

The head Master met them at the door. "Welcome, Kyle and Kaily. We have been expecting you." the twins looked at each other, then followed him inside.

**Kaily:** After Master Skywalker was introduced to me, I followed Master Lilly to the girls dormitory. Meeting new girls was really fun for me. A young girl (well, she wasn't THAT young, but she was younger than me) smiled and said,

"Hi! I'm Marianne! What's your name? Oh well, it doesn't really matter. You won't get a chance to talk in here with me around!" she stopped to take a breath, and I hurriedly answered,

"I'm Kaily. Do we ever get to see the boys?"

Another girl named Lana nodded. "Everyday, for lunch. Why? Got a special one?"

I nodded. "My twin brother, Kyle."

**Kyle:** Master Skywalker showed me to the boys dormitory, and left me to get to know them. I was never as good as Kaily at making friends. One boy was very outgoing; his name was Tai.

He introduced me to everyone else in the dorm at the time. There were only two others: Derek, and Phil. They were nice enough, but Phil was definitely the nicest.

Derek sighed once. "Dude, you missed the best part of the day." I raised my eyebrows. "That is...?"

Derek laughed. "Dude, lunch hour! That's when you get to talk to the girls. And let me tell you, there are some chicks in there. The food isn't even that great (or so I think) but the girls make it worth it." I shrugged. "I was never that into girls. But at least I get to see Kaily for at least an hour everyday."

Phil half grinned. "She your special girl?"

I grinned and shook my head. "No, she's my twin!"

Derek gave a grin as big as his face. "How old are you, dude?"

"15"

"Sweet! I'm 16. Is your sister pretty?"

I decided to tease him a little. "Oh, not really. Black hair hanging straight to her waist, green eyes, a figure to die for."

In reality, Kaily had silver hair that went down to her behind, blue eyes and freckles. And her figure was okay, but it was definitely NOT to die for.

Derek just about fainted and fell back on his bed. "Dude! I mean, dude! You've got a total hottie for a sister!"

**Kaily:** I really missed Kyle that day. It's hard being in a new place without your best friend and brother. Especially when you're bunking with a girl who won't shut up.

Marianne just babbled on and on about how nice everyone was there, warning me about a kid named Derek, who was a total flirt. "I mean, look at poor Lana! Derek tried to kiss her. At least she had her training saber with her!" at my shocked look she added, "Sheesh, I was just joking. Lana would have been expelled (even though Derek would have deserved it more than her) if she had used that thing for violence."

I glanced at Lana. She was really pretty, with long pale blonde hair and turquoise colored eyes.

She frowned at me. "Is there something wrong with your hair? It's silver!"

I touched the locks in question. "No, I was born this way. I always liked it."

Lana nodded. "Okay. Well, welcome to the girls dorm. You better get used to this chatter box, because she's never quiet. She even sleep talks!" I grinned, although Marianne looked indignant.

The next morning, I donned the orange jumpsuit that was the uniform here, and went to the morning assembly.

**Kyle:** Phil woke me up early, his green eyes shining. "It's time for the morning assembly. Wake up!"

I sat up, pulling the orange jumpsuit on and rushing to the bathroom to brush my teeth and run a comb through my silver hair, which was, by the way, cropped short. Mentally, I decided never to let my mom cut my hair again. It was too short for my liking. I wondered if Kaily would be there. I decided to ask Phil to help me keep Kaily out of Derek's sight.

Phil answered, "By the way, Kyle, I like being called Phillip, not Phil. And sure I'll help keep Derek away from Kaily." in secret he asked, "IS she pretty?"

I shrugged. "Decide for yourself." we walked into the room together, and I pointed Kaily out. Luckily, Derek didn't see her. A couple girls had banded together to screen her from him. Good thing they did, too. Because he scanned the entire room looking for her. It was lucky that he was looking for black hair, not silver.

Phillip noticed her immediately. "She is pretty. Not as pretty as Lana, but pretty just the same." he whispered.

**Kaily:** I saw Kyle walk in with three other guys, but didn't see much else because the other girls for some reason crowded in front of me. Lana pointed Derek out. He was the black haired one. Kyle grinned at me and used the mindlink we had.

**How're you doing, little sis?**

I scowled at him. **Just fine. Who are your friends? I know the black haired one's Derek, but the red haired one and the brown haired one I don't know. **Kyle didn't get a chance to answer because just then Master Skywalker walked in.

**Kyle:** I wanted to answer Kaily, but Master Skywalker severed the mind link. He smiled at me.

"I would like to welcome the two new students. The only reason they are a little late is because there was a...complication on their planet. Kyle and Kaily Tyler, welcome to Jedi High!"

After this, he went on with morning assembly, but my mind was elsewhere.

Phillip nudged me when it was time to leave. We rose and went to the first period class. Which happened to be practicing with a lightsaber. Kaily was there.

Derek noticed her immediately. "Hey, who's the chick? She looks kind of like you." she smiled, but he winced. I grinned. She had used her mind spike on him.

**Kaily:** After I gave Derek a worse headache than an anvil falling on his head would have given him, I picked a lightsaber from the ones available. Until I got the chance to build my own, this would have to do. The balance wasn't quite right, but it was the best of the twelve or thirteen sabers in evidence.

I extended the blade, admiring the blue color. This was the first lightsaber class, so none of use really knew how to use one.

I was pitted against Derek, who was still grimacing occasionally. Especially when I swung the blade to make it hum louder. I think I just about gave him a seizure.

I beat him easily and took pity on the most flirtatious boy in school. I pulled out the mind spike and watched, with some amusement, as he visibly relaxed.

The next few days were mostly like that. I did pretty well in my classes, but lightsaber training was definitely my favorite. I still hadn't met Kyle's friends, though, and one day it started bothering me that I didn't know.

I smiled at Kyle's red haired friend, mentally asking Kyle who he was. He looked like he was about to answer, but then Master Skywalker walked in, again, to take Kyle, the red haired boy, Tirina and me into another room.

Master Skywalker smiled at me. "You must be Kaily. Nice to meet you." I bowed, not really expecting him to bow back and was surprised when he did.

"A pleasure that is mine, Master."

He smiled. "You know Kyle and Tirina, I'm sure, but you probably won't know who this is." he motioned the red haired boy to the front. "This is Phillip." Phillip's green eyes sparkled at me as Master Skywalker said, "Be careful around him, Kaily, his smile is contagious."

Phillip grinned, proving Master Skywalker right as we all grinned with him.

**Kyle:** Kaily looked a little odd. I made a mind link and asked her what was wrong.

**Nothing, **she replied. I shrugged.

Tirina grinned at me, she was actually kind of pretty in her own way. She had way more freckles than Kaily. The white streak in her otherwise black hair shone, drawing attention without really meaning to.

Phillip looked even more odd as he looked at Kaily. I think he was smitten. Kaily's smile is really pretty.

Master Skywalker then turned serious. "I have noticed that you four are doing exceptionally well in your classes, so the council has decided to enter you in the advanced Jedi training." then he added, "If you want to, that is. I have to mention, Derek, Lana, Tai and Marianne have already accepted this honored position. Not many trainees get there, you know." we all accepted.

Master Skywalker grinned at our enthusiasm. "Oh, I forgot to mention that today you eight will be making your lightsabers. The real ones." he herded us all into a spaceship. I felt sorry for Kaily, she was sitting right next to Derek.

**Kaily:** Kyle's face was sympathetic as Derek muscled everyone else out of the way to sit by me.

I noticed a seat between Tirina and Lana, but then Master Lilly sat there.

Derek grinned at me. "Who are you, babe?" I drove the mind spike into his brain again, sucking in my breath as we took off. The feeling of leaving your insides down on down on the ground never ceases to annoy me.

Derek draped his arm around the back of my seat, so I reached back and karate chopped him right where his arm bends. He winced and pulled it back, rubbing at it.

I grinned in satisfaction. Kyle smirked. So did everyone else except the Masters, who didn't notice. It was after we were allowed to move around the spaceship that I noticed the seat on the other side of Kyle. I sighed, and got up to join Kyle.

Derek followed, so I went to a place no boy can go: the ladies restroom. I regret to say that I stayed there the rest of the trip. We landed on a planet in the Draco galaxy.

It was all ice, and they gave us the Jedi cloaks for warmth. Kyle was hanging back, so I dropped back beside him.

"So what do you think of the academy?"

**Kyle: **Kaily raised her eyebrows, waiting for an answer. I thought.

"Well, it's okay. I liked it better at the elementary school, but high school's not all that bad. The one bad thing? Derek."

She nodded. "Tell me about it. He has his sights set on me, and I can't shake him off my back. Does he know I'm your sis-" she broke off as Derek approached us.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Derek asked.

Kaily and I exchanged a look. "Yes," we answered together. Derek narrowed his eyes at me. "Whatever."

Kaily abruptly left to talk to Lana and Tirina, leaving me with Derek.

"I can tell she's not your girlfriend," he said. I didn't say anything. "I can tell she's your sister, liar." I glanced at him, but he wasn't mad. "I don't mind that you lied, you were just protecting her. I would have done the same thing if my sister was that gorgeous." Actually, personally I didn't think she was so pretty. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

**Kaily:** I felt a little bad leaving Kyle with Derek, but I couldn't really help it. I disliked that kid. At least the girls and the boys would be bunking separately.

We arrived at a cave, and Master Skywalker called us in one by one.

Derek was first. He was in there a long time, but when he came out, he had changed. He no longer looked like he thought girls existed just for him. He just stared at the ground, as if ashamed. When asked what color his lightsaber was, he just extended the glowing blue blade.

Sadly, I was picked second. I reluctantly entered the cave, sitting on the floor and wondering what you do. Suddenly, a vision came to me.

When it had gone, there was a lightsaber in my hands. I unsheathed it. The glowing blade was white! It was higher pitched then the other ones, also.

I walked out puzzled. Master Lilly asked me what color it was. "White." I stated. I clipped it on my belt, suddenly reluctant to let it go.

Kyle was next. Then Lana, then Phillip, then Tirina. Kyle had a white blade as well, he told me via mind link. Tirina had a blue blade, Phillip's was yellow, and Lana's, green. Marianne's was purple, and Tai had an orange one.

When we were all finished, Master Skywalker announced that we were all going on a mission, to test our skills. None were dangerous. A boy and a girl would be going on each mission.

Master Skywalker named off the pairs. Surprisingly, I was going with Phillip of the contagious smile! Kyle was going with Lana, Tirina was going with Derek, and Kyle's friend Tai was going with Marianne. I got into the ship Phillip and I were taking to Heritia, and strapped myself down. I wondered how Kyle was doing. He was going to Ji'Harth.

**Kyle:** I got into the pilot's seat of the small spacecraft we were using, while Lana climbed into the co-pilots chair with a little worry. I smiled at her reassuringly.

**Hey, Kaily!** we mindlinked and she replied:

**WHAT?! You couldn't have picked a ****worse**** time to contact me! I have to fight the space pirates! Can't you call back a little later?**

"Space pirates?!?!"

Lana jumped. "What is it?" she asked.

I quickly told her about me and Kaily's mindlink conversation and finished with "And now they're being attacked by space pirates!" Lana didn't have to think about that very long. "Well, let's go help them!"

I sighed. "We can't. We were ordered to not stray from our mission. If we go to help them, we could be severely lectured, or even expelled!"

Lana looked at me, exasperated. "Then what are we going to do?"

I shrugged. "Tell the Jedi Council, I suppose."

Lana pushed me out of the pilot's seat and buckled herself in. "What are you doing?" I shouted.

She looked at me levelly. "Helping my friend. You'd better buckle up. I'm taking off in a minute."

I hastily sat down and strapped myself in.

When we shot off into space, she steered towards the two little blips on the radar screen. I went to the gunner's helm and set my hands on the joystick, my fingers poised over the little red buttons. Ready to shoot when Lana gave the command.

"NOW!" She bellowed. I shot at the large red cargo ship that was attacking the small silver spacecraft. The shots just bounced off, but then I noticed a small black lever on the bottom of my seat. I pulled it, holding my breath just in case I was ejected into space.

Another joystick popped out, and I shot this one at the cargo ship. Two large missiles sped off toward the ship.

**Kaily:** I watched the missiles leave the other spacecraft, holding my breath. When the cargo ship's guns were blown off, it turned tail and left. I jumped up and down screaming with joy.

Phillip turned from his own gun helm and looked at me questioningly. "What's the matter?"

I twirled around in happiness. "That was my brother! Kyle! And Lana! They saved us!" I stared out the window as they left, mentally thanking Kyle. **And tell Lana that I said thanks, too.**

Philip strapped himself in the pilots seat and we blasted off toward the coordinates of the planet our mission was on. A few hours later, I went to the big window and stared out at deep space. It was beautiful, with all the twinkling stars and planets.

Phillip stood next to me, also staring. Eventually, I turned from the window with a sigh. I sank into a plush chair and put my head in my hands.

Phillip knelt in front of me and tipped my head up with a grin. "You okay?"

I smiled faintly. "Yeah, I just miss my parents. I haven't seen them for almost a month. I'm not used to boarding school." I hung my head, and twisted my fingers together. I played with the gold purity ring my mother had given me when I turned thirteen.

Phillip touched my shoulder, then got up and left.

I was alone with my thoughts for a while, and jotted some things down in the little journal I always kept with me.

A little later, I stood, stretched and went to a small bathroom we had on board. I stood in front of the mirror and brushed my hair. Then, I parted it down the middle and braided it in lots of little braids about a quarter of an inch thick.

When I was finished, the braids hung down almost to my knees. I put purple hair bands on them and tied the braids together like a ponytail.

**Kyle:** When we were done helping Kaily and Phillip, I reclaimed my seat and we were on our way to the planet Ji'Harth.

The Ji'Harth natives were in a crisis, as their water was unpure. Most of their young ones were sick. Our mission was to purify the water and help the young ones regain their health.

We fell into orbit in about four hours. The Ji'Harthians sent a transmission that told us to wait until the next day to land. I sighed. Lana looked almost happy. "Well, at least we don't have to wait until next week!"

I rolled my eyes. She was always the optimist. Kaily was more of a pessimist. I wondered how she was doing, but then decided that they were probably on their way to Heritia to help the natives fight against horrible lizards. I sighed again, then went to the bathroom to take a shower.

When I came out, Lana was brushing her long blonde locks and humming to herself. She didn't notice me, so I slipped back into my seat. I watched her for a long time, until she did notice me.

"Oh, hi Kyle! How long have you been sitting there?"

I glanced at my watch. "A little over twenty minutes. Why?"

She shook her head. "Sorry. I was in my own little world."

I shrugged and raised my eyebrows at the same time. I leaned back in my chair, and tried to picture my dog, Krono. He had been my best friend, besides Jared, on Morsica. And, I missed him. I thought of his floppy ears and smiled.

K**aily:** When I came out of the bathroom, Phillip commented, "New hairstyle. I like it." I sat in the co-pilots chair and watched the stars shooting by.

After a while, I noticed Phillip standing behind my chair. "And just how long have you been standing there, young man?" I grinned up at him. He glanced down at me with an equally large smile on his face.

"Not long, about five minutes. I was just watching deep space. Beautiful, isn't it?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

He tugged on one of my braids and said, "Do you wear your hair like that a lot?"

I shook my head. "No, this is the first time. Why?"

He trailed his fingers down the length of my hair, which was about three feet. "It would look pretty wavy. Mind if I try something?" I shook my head. "No, of course not." He released the tie that held back my hair, and picked up a couple braids. He wrapped them around and around my head, letting the others hang free.

I felt very uncomfortable, the atmosphere in the room had changed. After he finished putting the hair tie in my hair to keep it in the style he had designed, he meandered off. I sat in my chair, rubbing my forehead.

Suddenly, the spaceship jolted.

Kyle: Lana turned to me from her spot in the co-pilots chair. "We can go down now." I nodded, and we landed the spacecraft.

As we walked down the ramp, a blast of hot air hit me straight in the face. "Careful, Lana, it's windy."

Lana nodded, not seeming to care. "I grew up on a planet much like this one. Hot and windy. We even had a little problem with water."

We went to the council building and talked to the Ji'Harthians about the water problem.

**Kaily:** I glanced out the window, and gasped. The large red ship was back, and it had us trapped in it's tractor beam.

Phillip looked up from his position on the floor; the jerk must have knocked him over. He saw the ship and tried to reach someone on the ship's comlink.

No one answered. No one, that is, but the red ship. I heard a wheezing laugh, and felt a little faint.

**Kyle:** The Ji'Harthians were very polite, and informed us that the water problem had grown worse. Their children were now barely alive. I went back to the ship and brought four of barrels of water we had brought for them while we found out what the problem with their water supply was.

We took a barrel into the hospital room where all the kids were, and let them drink their fill. They were so happy to have water that one little girl even gave me a hug.

Lana was swamped with children; They were hanging off her arms and legs and one had her arms around her neck and was dangling down Lana's front. I laughed.

**Kaily:** The voice on the comlink said, "Scared, little Jedi?" I started crying silently, and crawled over to Phillip. I curled up against his side and felt a little safer.

"What do you want?" Phillip said loudly.

The voice laughed again, and answered, "I'm a Space Pirate, I want whatever you have on that ship. You two will become slaves."

I shuddered, and then I had an idea. I crept over to the back up comlink and sent a hurried, whispered message to Kyle and Lana's ship: "Help us, Kyle! We're being pulled behind the Space Pirates. As soon as your done with your mission, come rescue us! We're to become slaves." I ended the message and stood.

Phillip stood as well. "You'll have to get us first!" He shouted in defiance.

I fingered the lightsaber on my belt, and grinned. I might not have been the greatest lightsaber student in the school, but I could defend myself if necessary.

**Kyle:** The next day we went to the water purifiers that harvested the water underneath the sand. I found the problem with one almost immediately; the screen just needed fixing. I hurriedly did so, and went to check the next one.

I had a niggling suspicion that Master Skywalker had sent us on this mission because we were the best at fixing things.

I watched Lana for a while, then got back to work on the purifier I was working on. I took the outer shell off, and gasped. The circuitry was cut, and sparking. _No wonder the water wasn't getting purified!_ I thought. I got out my tools and started splicing circuitry back together.

A little over an hour later, I was finished. I turned to see Lana looking over my shoulder. She looked up at me through her lashes and said,

"You're pretty good at fixing things. I saw that circuitry. It was pretty totaled." I felt a little nervous, but managed to say,

"I'm going back to the ship. Our work here is done." I walked back to the ship, after leaving the other fifteen barrels of water near the tribal house.

I said goodbye to the kids, and boarded the ship. I automatically checked the comlink, and gasped as I heard Kaily's whispered message. I yelled for Lana to get on the ship, then strapped myself into the pilots seat.

**Wherever you are, Kaily, we're coming!** I thought at her.

**Kaily:** As we were pulled nearer and nearer to the red ship, I got more and more scared. I hugged myself, trying to calm myself down.

Phillip pulled me against his side, trying to comfort me. I leaned on him, and pulled my lightsaber off my belt. We finally arrived in the red ship's hanger, and were boarded. The ship's captain, a stocky man, said,

"Little Jedi! How nice." Phillip had let go of me as soon as the ship was inside the hanger, and had drawn his lightsaber. I stood a little ways behind him and held my lightsaber at the ready.

The blade wasn't extended, but could be at a moments notice. The stocky man had his men freeze us, (The beam went right through our lightsabers) disarm us and take us to a cell.

He said, "I'll take pity on you and let you stay in the same cell, but as soon as you start trying to escape, it's separate cells for you!" We were thrown in a small cell, and the door was locked.

I shuddered, and started crying, as quietly as I could.

Phillip stood, and pulled me into his arms. "Shh, it's all right. It's going to be okay, you'll see!" I let my head rest against his chest and listened to his heartbeat, a steady rhythm. He stroked my hair and I started feeling a little uncomfortable.

**Kyle:** We left Ji'Harth as fast as the natives would let us, but first we had to get clearance to blast off. That took about ten minutes, then we were allowed to go. We took off and headed for the coordinates that Kaily had sent us.

But before we had left the atmosphere, we stopped. Not intentionally, of course. We were stuck in a tractor beam, and were being pulled back down towards the planet.

The rebel Ji'Harthian leader smirked at us through the viewscreen. "Well, well, little Jedi, not going anywhere, are you?"

I glared. "Let us go!" The leader, a man named Hal'il, laughed. "I have been given orders not to let you leave this planet until the red man returns with his two prisoners. Then, you'll all be put on the slave market." Hal'il said.

"No!" Lana said, pure defiance in her voice. "You can't make us." I nodded. "We have large blaster cannons on this ship, you know. We could pummel your main villages for days." I didn't mention that the cannons only worked in space. Dumb idea for a spaceship, but the builder must not have thought so.

Hal'il raised his eyebrows. "You honestly think that our villages don't have a forcefield around them? You're not as smart as I thought."

I smoldered, like a volcano about to erupt. Making small movements, I edged backwards towards a table and grabbed a blaster.

Slipping it into the holster under my shirt, I shouted, "You won't get us alive!"

**Kaily:** I was cold. I had found a light blanket, but I was still cold. It was the coldness of fear, and fear was coursing through my veins right then. I shivered, and curled up on the make-shift cot.

Phillip was pacing, thinking. I started crying again. "Ah, buck up, Kaily! I'll get us out of here!"

I frowned at him. "How? Our lightsabers and all our other weapons were taken away!" He grinned, and reached under his shirt, pulling out a small, long, gray, cylindrical object. That gray object was probably the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen at that given moment. "A lightsaber!" I ran over and threw my arms around Phillip. He made a noise like air rushing from his lungs, and grinned at me.

"I have to breathe, Kaily." I grinned back and loosened my grasp a little.

"Sorry. Where did you get it?"

He pretended like it was the first breath of air he'd gotten in five minutes, breathing hard. "S'okay. Oh, and I made two lightsabers."

I shook my head at him. "Didn't they frisk you?"

He shrugged. "I don't think that Space Pirate is that smart, because he didn't think to."

I sat down on the cot again. "Well, when are you going to get us out of here?"

Phillip slipped the lightsaber back under his shirt. "After a few of days, I think. Yes, that would be the best time."

I sighed. "Why wait?"

He half grinned. It made him look cocky. "He'll be expecting us to try to escape for about a day or two. If we wait four or five days, they'll let down their guard. At least, I hope they will. As I said before, they don't seem that smart."

I sighed again, and laid back on the cot, hoping to get some sleep.

**Kyle:** I stared in defiance at the viewscreen, but it had gone blank. Lana held up a cord.

"Now we can do whatever we want, without them seeing us." With a whisper, she added, "Like prepare for getting boarded."

I stared at her in confusion. "How?"

She grinned. "I have an idea."

A few minutes later, they boarded us, forcefully. They found Lana kneeling over my body, a blaster a few feet away. Blood coated my chest, and it was all I could do not to grin.

Lana was crying, and whispering, "Why, Kyle, why? Why'd you have to shoot yourself?" I pretended to cough, and said in a hoarse whisper that I hoped sounded like I was dying,

"I'd rather die than be caught by those idiots on the planet's surface." Then Lana pretended to see the Ji'Harthians for the first time.

"Oh, no, Kyle, they're here!" Lana moved to hide the makeup kit behind the co-pilot's chair. My blaster was digging painfully into my back, but I couldn't move to make myself more comfortable. I coughed again, for real this time. Lana started crying again, and I had to admit she was a good actress.

The Ji'Harthians bound us up and threw us in a cell, not even bothering to frisk me first. Lana pretended to help me onto a cot, and then knelt beside it while she waited for me to 'die'.

Finally, I shuddered and did so. Lana screamed and cried and carried on, carrying a very convincing bluff. The guard ran up and stopped when he saw Lana. She pretended to collapse into a little bundle and cried some more.

The guard ran in, and asked if she was okay.

"Kyle's dead." Lana replied in a voice that sounded void of all emotion.

The guard patted her back. "I'm very sorry, I don't exactly want you to be trapped here. In fact, I'll help you escape!"

With that I whispered, "Lana, get over here." Lana stood and went to my side.

"Yes?" She whispered.

The guard walked over as well. "Hey, you're not dead!"

I shook my head and smiled. "Of course not." I swiped a finger down the front of my shirt and showed it to the guard. The shocked expression on his face was priceless.

**Kaily:** I woke some time later, and found Phillip leaning against the wall, his head down and one leg stretched out in front of him. I realized he was asleep, and went to the front of the cell.

The space pirate captain was walking toward our cell, and I stared defiantly at him. He grinned at me. "So, little Jedi girl, you're awake. Good. That means I can question you." He unlocked the door and put laser shackles on me.

Then, he led me out of the cell. I cast a look back at Phillip, and saw that he was still asleep. Terrified, I followed the captain to the interrogating room.

There, he strapped me to a wall and stood in front of me. "Where were you going?"

I stuck my chin out. "I will tell you nothing."

The rest of the conversation went sort of like this:

"What is your name?"

"I will tell you nothing."

"What's your boyfriend's name?"

"He's not my boyfriend, and I will tell you nothing."

Finally, after a bunch more questions, the captain picked up a syringe and injected some kind of fluid into my arm. "That should keep you under control."

I felt a little strange. "What is it?"

The captain laughed. "Hydrox 4." I bit back a laugh as well. The captain could not have known that Morsicans are immune to all fourteen of the mind controlling agents in the Hydrox class.

And even if he did know that, he couldn't have known I was Morsican. He took me back to my cell, and swapped me for Phillip, who was awake again.

He came back half an hour later looking blank.

"Did you inject him with Hydrox 4 as well?" I asked, sitting up from my reclining position on the cot.

The captain nodded. "Now, both of you, go to sleep."

Immediately, Phillip collapsed against the wall and started snoring. I fell back on the cot and pretended to sleep.

I heard the captain leave and slipped off the cot, crawled over to Phillip and knelt next to him. "Oh, Phillip." I said, stroking his red hair out of his face. "Why did he inject you with Hydrox 4?"

Of course, Phillip couldn't hear me. I was mostly talking to myself.

**Kyle:** the guard left the room when he heard someone coming, and I fell back on the cot.

Lana resumed her wailing, and the guard re-entered to give her a relaxant, Hydrox 16.

She immediately got a calm look on her face, and fell back against the wall, her eyes closing.

"Good acting, Lana." The guard whispered. "This isn't really Hydrox 16."

Lana nodded ever so slightly. The blaster was digging painfully into my back again, but I tried to ignore it.

When the person left, our guard was replaced by another, older, one. I crept off the cot and slipped a hand under my shirt, grabbed the blaster and set it on 'stun.'

Then, I walked over to the guard, and shot him in the back. He collapsed on the floor, and I grabbed the keys to our cell. I held them up for Lana to see, and then unlocked the door.

"Let's go!" I whispered. Lana nodded, and got up. We walked out the door and crept back to our space ship.

When we got there, we found it was guarded and the tractor beam still on it. Lana slipped off to disengage the tractor beam, and I reset my blaster to 'silent mode.'

Then, I shot all fifteen guards before they had a chance to call for help. Lana got back just as I was lowering the boarding ramp. We ran in, strapped ourselves into our respective chairs and blasted off. We were out of range of their tractor beam within a minute, and we set our coordinates to the ones Kaily had given us.

**Hold on, Kaily. We're coming!**

**Kaily:** I thought for a moment. "Wake up." I said. Phillip woke up. "All right, stand up." He stood. I stood as well.

Moving in front of him, I put my hands on my hips and glared up at him. His eyes were still blank, and I sighed. "I wish I didn't have to do this."

Phillip shook his head, and abruptly his eyes were back to normal. "Do what?"

I laughed and threw my arms around him again. "How did you manage to resist it? Oh, I am SO glad that I didn't have to do that."

He pulled back, and his dark green eyes stared quizzically down at me. "Manage to resist what? Do what?"

I looked back up at him. "Resist the medicine, and the antidote for Hydrox 4."

Phillip's eyes hardened. "That weasel dosed me with Hydrox 4? And I used the force to keep the medicine from my bloodstream. It never actually left the needle. What _is_ the antidote to Hydrox 4?"

I blushed. "Ummmm, nothing important," I said casually.

Phillip shuddered. "All right, Kaily, I've decided to get us out of here today." He took out his lightsaber and slashed the door open. I was about ready to follow Phillip out of the cell when a message hit my brain loud and clear:

**We're coming, Kaily!**

"Kyle!" I said aloud.

Phillip turned. "Where?"

I sighed. "I got a message from Kyle. They're on their way!" Phillip nodded and we ran out of the cell complex.

We found a map of the ship and located the hanger. We set off down corridor 3C, and walked straight into a room full of armed pirates.

Our lightsabers were laying on a table. "Oops, wrong turn." Phillip said. I saw the hanger through a window.

"There's the hanger!" I yelled. We made a run for it, with the pirates on our heels. I grabbed my saber as I passed the table, as did Phillip.

We made it to the hanger, and ran for the ship. The pirates stopped, and I turned to look at them.

So did Phillip. One raised his gun, and the others followed suit. Phillip extended the glowing yellow blades of his lightsabers and held them at ready. I stood alongside him, and he pushed me behind him just as they shot, all but one rays. The other was an old-fashioned pistol. He deflected the shots back at them with an "unh."

Five of the six pirates fell, and the last one turned tail and ran. I keyed the boarding ramp and ran up it, Phillip not far behind me.

The ramp closed, and I made ready to take off. Then I noticed that Phillip was extremely pale and was leaning against the bulkhead. His lightsaber, off now, was grasped loosely in one hand. (the other was back on his belt) His other hand was balled up, clutched over an increasingly large, dark, wet spot on his chest, and he was taking short gasping breaths.

I gasped. "You're hurt!"

He tried to smile, but couldn't quite manage it. "Obviously." I had him sit in one of the chairs, while I got the first aid kit.

I got back as Phillip closed his eyes, in obvious pain.

"Man, this hurts."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, of course it hurts! If he had used a laser blaster, the nerve endings would be fried. But since he used an old fashioned pistol..." I didn't finish my sentence.

I made him lie down on the floor, and slit open the front of his shirt. I applicated a deadening substance that would help with the pain, then took the tweezers and probed for the bullet. I found it and pulled it out, studying the bloody thing.

"Gross." I muttered, and dropped it into the waste basket. Then, I took a bandage and wrapped it around Phillip's chest.

His eyes were closed, and his face nearly white with blood loss. When I was finished, there was a small red spot on the crisp white bandage.

"That'll have to do for now." I told him. "We have to get out of here." But then I noticed that our fuel had been drained.

**Kyle: **We arrived at the coordinates in about ten minutes, through Hyperspace. The big red ship was there, and it wasn't moving. We flew into the hanger and saw a small silver spaceship. It was just sitting there, and I got a little worried. I keyed up the transmitter, and Kaily's face appeared on the viewscreen.

"Yes?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Kaily, is something wrong?"

She nodded, and frowned. "Yeah, Phillip got shot and I don't have the appropriate first aid gear to help him feel better. I think that the space pirates took the first aid kit."

I called back to Lana, who was preparing a new first aid kit for the other ship. "We need a tube of that splicing glue, Lana."

She nodded and packed it into the safety kit. Then, she ran down the ramp and into the other spaceship.

She came back a moment later helping Kaily support Phillip. "They don't have any more fuel, so they have to come with us." Lana handed Kaily the splicing glue and she got to work on Phillip's wound. Lana helped me get out of the red spaceship. I contacted Master Skywalker.

"Yes, Kyle?"

I sighed with relief. "Master Skywalker, I have to come home. Phillip's wounded, their ship is out of fuel, we don't have any to spare, and Lana's on the verge of a nervous breakdown!"

Master Skywalker frowned. "Phillip's hurt? How?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, I haven't had the chance to talk to Kaily yet. Is it okay to return to Jedi High?"

Master Skywalker nodded. "I guess so. But Kaily and Phillip will have to complete their mission."

I pursed my lips. "Kaily could probably do that on her own, right? I mean, the Heritians only have a problem with lizards. Kaily could easily take care of that. All she needs to do is bring a lot of specimens along. The natural predators for the lizards. Right?"

Master Skywalker raised his eyebrows. "Well thought out, youngling. Yes, I suppose Kaily could do that on her own."

I bowed as best I could while sitting down, and cut the transmission.

I set coordinates for Jedi High, and said, "We're on our way home. Phillip's going to stay and recuperate, Kaily is going to go to Heritia, and I'm going with her to help her. Okay with you guys?"

Kaily and Lana nodded, but Phillip shook his head.

"No way."

I raised one eyebrow. "Why?"

Phillip shifted, grimaced and touched his chest gingerly. "I have to go with Kaily. You two have already completed your mission. But we haven't. We still need to."

I re-contacted Master Skywalker and told him the new plan. He agreed, however reluctantly, to let Phillip go.

I grinned. "Well, you two, looks like as soon as we get home, you're getting another ship and heading for Heritia!"

Kaily smiled and Phillip closed his eyes, resting.

Kaily turned to "Use the restroom," and left the control room. I smiled after her and concentrated on getting home.

After we jumped into Hyper-Space, I got up, stretched, and went to check on the fuel levels. The fuel was nearly gone, but there was enough to get us home. Barely.

An hour later, we arrived at Jedi High and Kaily and Phillip got on another ship.

**Kaily:** I walked up the ramp, helping move the specimen jars on board. The little snakes curled up in their glass jars were so cute! I asked Master Skywalker if I could keep one.

"You don't need a pet, but I don't see why not."

He left, while I picked one out. It slithered out of it's jar and wrapped around my arm.

They weren't poisonous (yet), they didn't have fangs (yet) and they weren't constrictors, so I was safe. I named her Bonita, which means light, I think. I showed Phillip, and he smiled.

"Bonita's a nice name for such a nice looking snake."

I grinned back. "Isn't it?" I put her back in her jar and set her on my bed. I told her that I would get a terrarium for her as soon as we returned.

Then, I contacted Kyle. **Hey, Kyle. Guess what?** Kyle didn't answer, so I assumed that our mindlink was only half there. He must have been distracted. _**Oh, well.**_ I thought. _**I can always tell him when we get back. But I wonder what's distracting him?**_

**Kyle:** I was doing running a check on the ship's HyperDrive when Lana came in. I checked off HyperDrive on my laserboard and jumped when Lana touched my shoulder.

"Kyle?"

I whirled around. "Yes, Lana?" I said, after I got over my initial surprise. Lana smiled, her eyes twinkling at me.

"I just wanted to see what you were doing. Can I watch for a while?"

I nodded. "Sure, I don't care." I was just going to turn to the viewscreen circuitry to make sure it was okay after Lana pulled out the plug, when she grabbed my shoulder and turned me back. She reached up and brushed a lock of silver hair from my face.

"There. I bet you can see better now."

I grinned, not understanding. "Not much." I turned again to the circuitry, but again Lana turned me back. "Uh, Lana, if you don't mind, I have to check the viewscreen circuitry."

Lana raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

I nodded. "Yes, and also-" She cut me off by putting her arms around my neck and kissing me.

Surprised, I jerked back, hit my head on the HyperDrive generator and dropped my laserboard. I fell to my knees, rubbing the back of my head. "Ouch. That hurt. Lana?"

She grinned down at me. "Well?"

I looked up, a little uncomfortable. "That hurt."

She raised an eyebrow again. "Really."

I glared up at her. "Yes, really. Whatever did you do that for?" She blushed, ever so slightly. "Because, ah, because, um," She broke off and blushed redder than she'd ever blushed before.

I sighed. "Come on, I'm done. Let's go get dinner."

**Kaily:** As we lifted off, I felt mental surprise emanating from Kyle.

**Um, Kyle? You okay?** He answered a moment later, sounding busy.

**Yes, I'm fine. I'm also eating. Could you call back in about an hour? **

I agreed, and we broke apart. Phillip raised an eyebrow at me. "Everything okay?"

I nodded, smiling. "Yeah, Kyle and I were just talking." Phillip looked a little confused, so I told him about our mindlinking abilities. He nodded, raising both eyebrows. He managed to look half understanding and half confused at the same time.

I grinned at him.

He looked away, glancing at the panel before him. "Let's see, press this, lift this and pull this."

I bent over to look at his face. "Is something wrong, Phillip?"

He wouldn't look at me. "No," he answered, proving that something was.

I put my hand on his cheek and turned his face toward mine. "Then why won't you look at me?"

He lifted his dark green eyes to mine, and I saw deep pain and longing, hidden away.

"What's wrong? You can tell me!"

He didn't answer, just looked away again. I sat in the co-pilots chair and said,

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong! Come on, you can trust me. I promise. I'm one of your friends, right?" he nodded. I wondered if my eyes gave away how worried I was about him.

**Kyle:** After Kaily contacted me, I ate my dinner with a ravenous hunger.

While I ate, I tried to ignore the questions Derek pushed at me. "Is Kaily okay, Kyle? Where's Phillip? What went on during your mission? Are you okay? You look sort of pale."

Since the last question indicated he was worried about me, I answered it. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little tired. No sleep for two days can do that to a man."

Derek grinned. "Tell me about it. I got no sleep for at least two days! It was too quiet in my room on the ship. Without Tai's rumbles, your sighing and Phillip's muttering, it was just to silent for my liking! Tirina wasn't any help, she never said anything besides, "What do you want to eat for dinner?" and other essentials. It was really annoying. I even missed Tai's snores."

Tai looked up indignantly at this last accusation. "I do not snore!" Derek and I both looked at him.

"Yes, you do," We both said at the same time." Tai just shook his head. I grinned back at Derek's last comment, remembering that Kaily had said Tirina wasn't much of a talker.

Derek looked a little confused at my silent joke. "What's going on?" I shook my head.

**Kaily:** Phillip looked at me, and it seemed as though he were actually going to tell me what was wrong. But then his eyes saddened again. "I can't tell you. It's too personal."

I nodded. "All right." I stood and started to leave, then turned back. "Does that wound hurt again?"

Phillip smiled slightly and shook his head. "No, it doesn't. That's not it."

I closed my eyes and inclined my head. "All right." Then I left for real. I sat in another overstuffed chair and pulled out my journal. Then I put it away again. I stood and paced around the room, then sat again. I felt really restless, and I didn't know why.

Finally, I went to my cabin and threw myself across the mattress, trying to get some sleep. I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, daylight streamed through the little window. I smiled, then realized that was odd, since there was no light in space.

Then I realized we must have landed while I slept. I sat up, stretched, then changed my clothes.

I walked out into the main living area and saw Phillip seated in one of the chairs, his head down and a book open across his lap. I smiled and went over.

Just as I was about to touch his shoulder, he lifted his head. His eyes were red around the edges, and I wondered if he'd been crying. I decided not to ask.

**Kyle:** I went to bed early that night, wishing that Kaily was nearer. Believe it or not, I sleep better knowing she's okay. I guess that comes of being the oldest. I felt responsible for her safety while we were away from home, and not being sure if she would make it home safely was worrying me.

Finally, I managed to fall asleep.

That night, I had disturbing dreams of Kaily's tear-stained face and of Phillip's voice echoing through my head. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but it sounded grim.

I woke covered in sweat the next morning. I took a shower almost immediately, because letting sweat dry on you is a bad idea. While I was toweling off my hair, Derek sat up. "You okay, Kyle? I heard you muttering something about Kaily being all right and Phillip being careful. You look awful," He added, when he saw my bloodshot eyes.

I nodded. "Yeah, I didn't get much sleep last night. I had dreams that Kaily was crying, and Phillip was saying something, but I couldn't hear what!"

Derek patted my shoulder, saying, "It's okay, Kyle. We all have disturbing dreams sometimes. It's completely normal. Kaily is going to be all right, you'll see."

I smiled. "All right." It was a weekend, so there was no school. We spent much of that day in the game room, playing foosball and enduring flirting girls of all species.

One, a blue skinned twi'lek girl, wouldn't stop!

Finally, her boyfriend came over and dragged her away, saying, "Come on, Brenalee, you're promised to me, remember?"

I sighed with relief, and noticed Tai and Derek staring at me funny. "What?" I asked, a little self-consciously. They grinned and shook their heads, not willing to answer.

**Kaily:** As I sat down in one of the chairs, I thought back to when I had first seen Phillip. His hair had been crew-cut, but now it just brushed his cheekbones. It looked better long, I decided.

Phillip was looking at me, but he didn't say a word. I cocked my head at him, trying to understand what was wrong.

He looked away, maybe embarrassed, maybe not. It was hard to decipher his body language. All my cells were screaming for me to go over and comfort him, to at least do something!

I decided against it, not sure how he would react. It might be positive, or negative. I had never tried comforting a boy before, because all my little siblings were girls.

Besides, Phillip was older than me by at least six months. And a teenager. They were hard to comfort, at least that's what my mom had said.

Finally, Phillip spilled out of his chair onto his knees, put his head in his hands and just sat there, not doing anything. He wasn't crying, laughing, or anything else. He was just, kneeling there.

I crouched next to him, and put my hand on his back. "Phillip, please? What's wrong? It hurts to see you like this."

He raised his head, his eyes betraying no emotion. "Really."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm really worried about you. Please, tell me!" my voice caught, and I felt a lone tear course down my cheek.

Phillip hesitantly reached out and brushed it away, for the first time that day letting one emotion show: tenderness. I turned my head toward his touch, not exactly sure about what I was doing.

**Kyle:** I was walking toward the game room door when extreme sadness hit me. Kaily was upset. I imagined the tear-stained face from my dream and hurriedly made contact. I got no response, but I distantly heard a voice. I wasn't sure who it was, but it had to be someone Kaily knew.

I gave up and let the mindlink drift closed. Tai must have seen my stop, for he ran up and asked in a breathless voice,

"You okay, Kyle? You just jerked to a stop and got a weird look on you're face."

I nodded, and went to my bunk. I fell asleep almost immediately. When I woke, Derek was standing over me. "Kyle, Master Skywalker wants to see you right away."

I gulped. "All right, I'm coming." I made myself presentable and went to Master Skywalker's quarters. I knocked on the door, then went in when the door opened. Master Skywalker was sitting in a chair.

"Kyle."

I bowed respectfully. "Master."

He beckoned for me to sit down and rubbed his temples. "I'm sorry you have to go through this, but I lost contact with your sister's ship."

I felt the blood drain from my face. "Kaily's ship?"

Master Skywalker nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry, Kyle. We tried every frequency, but it's just gone. Maybe they're using a cloaking device, but we don't know where they are."

I put my head on my arms and tried not to cry. "Can you get her back?"

Master Skywalker sighed. "We'll keep trying, Kyle. But there's not much we can do besides keep every channel open in case they try to contact us."

With that, he dismissed me. I walked back to my dorm in shock. Kaily, gone? I just couldn't believe it.

**Kaily:** The warmth of Phillip's hand comforted me somewhat, but then he removed it. I broke down in tears, remembering all the times he'd been happy.

Even when we were in danger, on that pirate's ship, he had found time for a smile or two. I didn't understand why he was being like this, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know. I felt Phillip's vague discomfort, but didn't care. It wasn't that I wanted him to be uncomfortable, I just wanted him to be normal again.

Sudden inspiration dawned on me, and I carefully turned the top half of my body towards Phillip and collapsed into his arms.

Even more hesitant than before, his arms closed around me. Suddenly, they tightened. A wave of comfort flowed from him. His hand slipped underneath my hair and stayed there. Hoping against hope, I raised my head from it's position on his shoulder. Another teardrop was coursing down my cheek, and Phillip gently wiped it away. His eyes were close to normal, with most of the sadness gone. He didn't say anything.

And when I looked deep into the green eyes that were nearly as lighthearted as they had been, I realized he didn't need to. I closed my eyes again and rested my head on his chest.

Phillip gently ran his hand down my back, letting it rest against my waist. "Kaily, we have to get on with our mission."

I didn't move. "Why?"

Phillip put his hands on my shoulders and held me up so he could see me. "The Heritian's need those sand snakes. We have to get them to them as soon as possible."

I nodded. "All right." I started to get up and change into clothes suitable for short term desert living, but Phillip stopped me.

"Just a sec, Kaily. I need to tell you what you have just done." My heart started pounding. "Yes?"

Phillip smiled, feeling my anxiety from across the room. "Don't be nervous, it's nothing bad. It's just, well, you, hmm. It's kind of hard to explain. Sometimes, as you know, teenagers get sort of emotional. That's what was wrong with me. I just needed something to bring me back to my senses."

**Kyle:** I walked back to the dorm in a daze. Tai was the only one there, as Derek was getting some drinks from the vending machines. "Is something wrong, Kyle?" Tai asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, the Council lost contact with Kaily's ship. They don't know where it is. The Council thinks that they might be in danger, and that they're using a cloaking device. I'm not so sure myself."

Suddenly, I heard Master Skywalker's voice inside my head. I barely had time to wonder how he learned how to mindspeak when he said,

**Kyle, we've got Kaily's ship back! They're safe and sound, and on Heritia to complete their mission.**

I jumped up and down. "She's safe! She's safe!" I yelled.

Tai looked utterly confused. "Who?"

I hugged him, not really caring that boys were considered too cool to hug. "Kaily! They got her back! Master Skywalker just told me," I added.

Tai smiled. "That's great, Kyle!" I heard a tentative knock at the door. "Hello?" I yelled. I heard a timid girls voice.

"Um, what's going on in there?"

I crossed the dorm and yanked open the door.

Tirina was standing there, her face confused. "Kyle? What are you shouting for?"

I hugged her, too. She blushed. "The Council got Kaily's ship back!"

Tirina's face brightened. "That's great, Kyle! Um, how do you know?"

I whooped. "Master Skywalker told me."

Tirina's face was shining. "That's absolutely wonderful! Oh, hi Tai." She added, noticing him for the first time.

I noted with interest the look on Tai's face. He was smitten. I didn't blame him. Tirina was very pretty, her black hair hanging straight to her mid-back, and her white streak French-braided. Personally, I preferred Lana, but if Tai liked Tirina, that was fine with me. In the back of my mind, I wondered what had happened to Tai's liking Marianne.

But then I let it go. I was too happy to know that Kaily was safe to wonder about things like that.

Derek walked in just as Tirina walked out. They nodded to each other, and I realized that Tirina was getting friendlier.

Tai walked up to Derek and clasped his shoulder. "Guess what, Derek? Kaily's ship is safe again!"

Derek looked confused. "Was it ever not safe?" I explained the whole thing, jumping up and down the entire time.

**Kaily:** I was glad that I could help Phillip. I like to help.

Then, it was time to deliver the snakes. I grabbed a boxful and lugged them down the gangplank. I pressed the box into the hands of a grateful Heritian, then beckoned the rest to follow me.

They did so, gasping when they saw all the boxes of Sand Snakes.

Then they each grabbed a box themselves, walking in single file down the boarding ramp. We set them all loose immediately, grinning as the little snakes shot off towards the sand dunes, where most lizards were living.

We took a few to the houses, and let them eat all the lizards in the dwellings. Phillip was talking to the leader as I walked past, giving a little boy a piggyback ride to his hut. I let him down in front of the hut and walked back up the boarding ramp.

The message light was bleeping on the com. I called back to Phillip, asking him to come here immediately. He ran up the boarding ramp and skidded to a halt next to me.

The com message was from The Council, asking us what had happened. I sent a message back telling them we'd had technical difficulties with the cloaking device.

Then, as we were blasting off, we got another message. The com bleeped, signaling an incoming message. I turned on the speaker, and heard a young man's voice say,

"Phil? Is that your ship? I heard you were in the area."

I fell over backwards, sitting down in my co-pilots seat hard. "Phillip! Someone wants you!"

**Kyle: **Derek raised his eyebrows, smiling at me. "That's great! Wonderful, in fact. I'm so glad you're sister's okay."

I frowned. "Why, exactly?"

He shrugged. "Because I was worried about you. You weren't yourself while she was gone. You still aren't."

Another tap at the door brought us all to attention.

The door creaked open, and Lana stuck her head in. "Kyle? Tirina said that Kaily's okay. Is that true?"

I nodded, still joyous. "Yeah, it's true! They had technical difficulties with their cloaking device, Master Skywalker said."

Lana swept into the room and hugged me. At a loss for words, I just stood there, watching Tai and Derek smirk at me. "Lana, that's enough please." I whispered.

She let go of my chest. "All right." Then, she skipped out of the room.

"What was that all about, Kyle?" Tai asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. She got a little too close for comfort in the ship as well, while I was checking the inner workings." I flushed a light red.

Tai nodded understandingly. "Ah, kissed you, did she?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Got a big lump backing into the HyperDrive generator, too." I rubbed at it, digging my fingers into my thick silver hair.

"She moving to fast for you?" Derek asked.

I nodded again. "YES! You wouldn't believe it, but she's very persuasive, if you know what I mean."

**Kaily:** Phillip hopped out of his bedroom, buckling one shoe as he did so. "What?"

I held out the com to him. "It's for you."

He sent a message. "Hello? Phillip here."

The com crackled back to life. "Phil! I knew it was you. Is someone with you?"

He grinned. "Yeah, my friend Kail."

I laughed, just before his finger left the transmission button. "Phil? Your friend sounds like a girl. Is he younger than you?"

I grabbed the com. "I sound like a girl because I am a girl, jerk. And I'm no more than one year younger than him so there."

I humphed and handed the com back to a smiling Phillip. "Here."

He pressed the button and said, "Sorry about that, Jake. She's a little stressed out right now. You know how it goes."

"It's okay, little bro."

I gasped. "This guy's your older brother?"

Phillip nodded. "Yep. And we're going to go visit him. Don't worry, he's not as big of a flirt as Derek is. Um, you might want to change."

I looked down at my skintight blue tunic and giggled. I went to my room as Phillip changed course, pulling off the tunic and donning a purple under-tunic. I put a darker purple tunic over-top of that one. Then, I put on a pair of stretchy purple bell-bottoms the same light purple color as my under-tunic. Bell-bottoms were out of style, but I liked them. So, I was wearing them. I walked out as Phillip pulled into the hangar.

**Kyle:** Tai nodded at my last comment. "Yes, I know exactly what you mean."

Derek smiled, a faraway look in his eyes. I waved my hand in front of his face. "Um, hello in there? Anybody home?"

Derek shook his head. "What?"

I grinned. "Watcha thinking about?"

Derek shrugged, his face red. "Not much."

I raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. You honestly expect me to believe that?"

Derek flushed. "Fine, I was thinking about Tirina. She's actually quite pretty, you know."

Tai growled. "Don't."

Derek looked confused. "Don't what?"

Tai sat on his bunk. "Think about Tirina. She's mine." It went back and forth like that for quite a while.

I looked from one to the other, realizing what a ridiculous fight this was. "Listen to me, both of you. Why don't you just let Tirina decide? And whoever is the unlucky one, there's always Marianne. Even though, I'll admit, she'll talk your ear off."

Tai shook himself. "Why was I arguing in the first place? She's just a girl."

Derek was experiencing the same thing. "Yeah. I didn't even know I liked Tirina. I always thought she was weird."

I grinned at them both. "Fine, whatever, good. Now shake hands and make up like men." They shook hands, grinning at each other.

**Kaily:** I went into the little ship's kitchen to take a painkiller, since my head was starting to hurt.

When I came out, Jake was on the ship.

I crossed and stood next to Phillip, scowling as Jake wolf-whistled appreciatively. "Whew, Phil! Didn't know your little girlfriend was so pretty. What's with the silver hair, though?"

I stepped forward and slapped Jake, hard. "Don't ever do that." Jake felt the side of his face, grimacing as his fingers brushed over the red handprint beginning to show up. "Feisty, aren't you? Remind me never to offend your friend, Phil. Oh, introduce me, will ya?"

I nodded. "Yeah, about that."

Phillip shook his head. "Right, sorry. Jake, this is Kaily. Kail, my brother Jake."

Jake extended his hand. I took it, shaking politely. Jake grinned as he squeezed my hand as hard as he could.

I smiled right back and crushed his hand in a true Morsican handshake. I squeezed three times as hard, watching him wriggle like a fish on a hook, trying to get his hand free.

Phillip watched this all with interest. "Okay, Kail, you might want to let him go before you break his hand."

I let go. "You have a good handshake, Jake. But it's not half as good as mine."

Jake dug his hand into a potted plant. "R.I.P., old appendage. Rest In Peace. Life was good while you were still here."

I raised an eyebrow and bent my head towards Phillip, whispering, "Is your brother always this weird?" I jumped as Jake ripped his hand from the plant, knocking it over and spilling potting soil all over the floor.

"IT'S ALIVE!"

Phillip put his head in his hands. "Oh, brother."

**Kyle:** After a few minutes, no one could remember what they were fighting about. I briefly wondered about Kaily, but decided she would be okay with Phillip.

Tai and Derek were playing a card game, and I joined in. "Watcha playing?"

Tai shrugged. "It's called Go Fish. It's actually pretty fun. Wanna play with us?"

I nodded. "Sure, why not." They dealt me in.

"Got any threes, Kyle?" Tai asked.

I shook my head. "Um, go fish."

Then, it was Derek's turn. "Tai, got any threes?" He asked, a smirk on his face. Tai made a face and handed two cards over in a huff.

"There."

I surveyed my hand. Two sevens, a four, three fives and a ten. "Um, got any fives, Derek?"

His eyebrows rose. "Yes, actually. Here." He forked it over. I set down the four fives. The rest of the game went as such, with Tai eventually winning with six matches. I had four, and Derek had three.

We played a few more games, then went to eat. We talked about the different characters we'd each met over the years.

I'd met the most, my father being the president of Morsica and all. The most interesting had probably been the diplomat from Korania. She'd been ten feet tall, had a snakes head and the body of a human. She'd actually been very nice. When we were six, Kaily and I had adopted her as our Aunt.

**Kaily:** Jake waved his hand around, making the potting soil on it fly around the room and dusting the crew member who'd been watching with interest. He hastily backed out the room, probably remembering some duty he hadn't been doing.

Jake stopped being weird and draped his arm around my shoulders. I flinched away, doing a hop-skip towards Phillip, who put a protective arm around me.

"Back off, creep." I muttered under my breath.

Phillip grinned. "I don't think she likes you, Jake."

I nodded. "You got that right," I said to Phillip. To Jake, I replied, "I think you'd better go throw yourself into space, weirdo."

Jake looked hurt. "I will not."

I laid my head on Phillip's shoulder. "Then show me to my room, and give me a blaster so I can shoot myself."

Jake laughed, but when my face didn't change, it trailed off. "You're dead serious."

I broke out in a grin. "Just kidding. The only thing I meant was the showing us to our rooms part."

Jake beckoned a female crew member to show us. They were joint rooms, connected by a bathroom.

As soon as the crew member left, Phillip let out a sigh of relief. "I don't think I made a good choice, visiting him."

I agreed. "No, I don't think so either." I went into my room and got into bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

The next morning, I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Phillip was combing his hair, a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth.

"Good morning," I said.

"Mph umph." Phillip said. I took that to mean good morning. I took a brush to my hair as soon as I left the bathroom. When I was finished, I braided my bangs and secured them behind my head.

**Kyle:** Master Anakin contacted me again. **Kyle, Kaily and Phillip are stopping by Phillip's brother for a little while. They'll be back before Saturday. Just thought that I'd let you know so you wouldn't worry. **

I mentally thanked him and went back to work on the LaserPuzzle I was working on. Kaily and I had always enjoyed them. We had one at home of the Grand Canyon, on the planet Earth.

I put the last three pieces in place and surveyed my work.

"Very good." I jumped as Lana spoke.

Whirling around, I asked, "What are you doing in here, Lana? This is the boys dorm."

Lana grinned, her eyes sparkling. I gulped, wondering if she was going to kiss me again. I sort of hoped not. Not that I didn't like Lana, or anything, I just didn't want to kiss her. Or her to kiss me.

"Well?" I asked, impatient.

Lana cocked her head. "Tai sent me in."

I looked at Tai, who was pointedly looking away. I glared, then turned back to Lana. "Okay. Well, I'm going to take a shower, so if you could leave..." my voice trailed off, and I hoped I looked more sincere then I felt. I really WAS going to take a shower, but not right that minute.

Lana looked at me. "All right. See you tomorrow." then she skipped out again. I crossed to Tai's bunk.

"All right, Tai. What's the big idea?"

Tai looked at me, his usually serious brown eyes full of mischief. "I wanted to see, or hear, how you act around her."

I folded my arms. "I don't think so. I think that you wanted her to kiss me."

Tai closed his eyes and sat there. "I will not answer that." I shrugged. "Fine by me." I turned to the door. "Tirina, Tai li-"

Tai jumped up. "No, I'll tell! I'll tell! Don't tell her, please!"

I shut my mouth. "Okay. Tell."

Tai explained that Derek had dared him to ask Lana in, to see if she would kiss me.

I shook my head, irritated. "Whatever. I'm going to take a shower." I went into the bathroom, letting my anger slide away along with all the dirty water.

When I came out, I felt much better. I got into bed and fell asleep pretty much right away.

**Kaily:** I walked out into the dining room with some misgivings. I still didn't trust Jake. Just to be sure, I sat as far away from him as possible without hurting his feelings. I didn't want to be mean.

Phillip came out a few minutes later with his normally tousled hair combed neatly. He sat across from me, grinning as I shot a glare at Jake.

He had been fluttering his eyelashes and pursing his lips, trying to look like a girl, I think. I'm not sure, it was a lousy impression. We ate breakfast in relative silence, making small talk about the size of the spaceship and how much it had probably cost.

After the meal, Phillip went to check on our ship's refueling. While he was gone, Jake talked me into letting him give me a tour of the ship. He led me off, muttering something about crew members and idleness.

When we got to the ship's captain's lounge, Jake locked the door behind him. I gulped and got ready to fight. He pulled out an old fashioned dagger, and advanced upon me. I backed up against the wall, trying to stay calm enough to use my mindlinking abilities. "Why?" I asked, softly.

Jake's eyes burned. "Because Phillip always got everything. He was the youngest, and he was force-sensitive. He was considered special, and was treated like royalty. It was always, 'Phillip this,' and 'Phillip that.' I got sick of it all! Now, to get back at him, I'm going to kill his girlfriend."

I told Jake, "I'm not his girlfriend," and finally got control of my fear. _**PHILLIP, HELP ME! I'M IN THE CAPTAIN'S LOUNGE!**_ I shouted in my mind.

**Kyle:** I woke in the morning, feeling that Kaily was somehow nervous. I decided that it was nothing and went to eat breakfast. Tai and Derek were already eating, and I joined them.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Tai said, a teasing smile on his face.

I grinned. "Morning. Anything good for breakfast, or is it the usual poison?"

Derek smiled and shook his head, blue eyes sparkling. "Actually, for once the food is edible. Pancakes! Yum." he took a bite, closing his eyes and making noises that sounded like he was in heaven.

I took a bite, surprised that the food was so good that day.

We finished breakfast quickly and went to the VidDisc section, to find a Vid to watch. We finally picked out _Space Warriors_ and settled down in our dorm to watch.

It was interesting, about all the different Heroes that had saved their galaxies numerous times.

There was Harold the Great, who saved the Draco galaxy, and Vince the Magnificent who was just a normal guy in the right place at the right time.

There was also Kyle Katarn, my namesake, who had saved the entire universe from the evil Dark Jedi, Jerec. I sat in my seat, awed by all the deeds Kyle had done.

There was a short segment on Kyle's wife, Jan, who had helped Kyle accomplish a great many of the things he did. When the Vid was over, I was full of pride at being named after Kyle Katarn.

Derek noticed the way I carried myself and inquired why. I told him that I was proud to be named after such a great hero. He grinned.

**Kaily:** I gasped as the cold metal of Jake's knife touched the soft skin on my neck.

"Aren't you going to beg for mercy?" Jake asked quietly. I was too afraid of being killed to do anything but breath. I could feel my terror coursing through me, but I didn't really pay attention to it.

Slowly, I moved my hand to my side to grab my lightsaber. "Don't even think about it." Jake moved his knife down to my tunic, just above my heart.

"I don't want to beg." I said, just as quietly as he had spoken. Jake looked at me, blue eyes filled with the burning light of insanity. I jumped, and Jake's dagger pricked my skin, as he said,

"I want you to beg."

I looked up at him, hoping my fear didn't show in my eyes. "Fine. Will you please let me make things right with God?"

Jake pulled away. "Five minutes."

I closed my eyes and prayed that it would be enough time for Phillip to arrive.

Five minutes later, Jake pulled me up. "Time to die, Kaily. But first," he drew me closer and kissed me. I sprang away at once, now terrified. He moved his knife back down to where my heart was. "I don't want to make it hurt too long. I'm not completely heartless."

I raised my eyes to his. "You don't have to do this."

His eyes were merciless. "Yes, I do."

I used the force to try to pick up any movements. I heard the quiet hum of a lightsaber and almost sighed with relief before I caught myself. A little red spot was forming in the door, and finally, rather than be destroyed, the door retracted into the wall.

Phillip stood in the door-frame, lightsaber drawn and his face angry.

Jake grinned and, with a look of defiance at Phillip, kissed me again. This time, he didn't let me pull away.

**Kyle:** As we were walking back to our dorm, a wall of terror hit me like a brick. Kaily was scared. Very scared. Someone was trying to kill her. The hair on the back of my neck prickled, and I jumped as Tai touched my shoulder.

"Is something wrong, Kyle? You look pale."

I whirled to face him. "You bet there's something wrong. Kaily's in trouble, and I don't know why."

Derek turned to join us. "Well, if you're that worried, try a mindlink. But not the same kind you usually do. Like, join you're minds so you can see what Kaily sees."

I raised my eyebrows, surprised. "Excellent idea, Derek."

Tai agreed. I closed my eyes and sat on the floor, preparing to make the mindlink.

"Okay, you guys. I might be out of it for a while. Make sure that I'm okay, and if I start moaning or something like that, just give me a good hard shake."

Tai and Derek nodded, and I mindlinked. I strove to push harder, and felt my mind join with Kaily's.

She let me in, and I saw a face that looked like Phillip's, but was different. Blue eyes instead of green, and his hair was a lighter shade of red. The face was just pulling his mouth away from Kaily's. I gasped involuntarily, and the face turned around. I saw Phillip standing, ready to defend Kaily to any cost.

I raised an eyebrow. So he loved her. Well, that was good. I liked Lana.

"Jake, give it up. I don't want to hurt you." Phillip said. The face, who must be Jake, turned back to us, and brought his knife down. We dodged, and I felt a searing pain in my chest.

"AGH!" I shouted, but Kaily didn't make a sound. I rushed back to my own body, nursing my chest. There wasn't a mark on it, but it still hurt.

**Kaily:** I felt Kyle's mind join mine, felt his mental surprise as Jake stabbed my lung, and he left abruptly. I smiled a little, as I collapsed as if mortally wounded.

I used the Force to cover up the blood on my tunic, and to keep the pain under control. Jake whirled around to face Phillip, and the combat began.

I sat up, prepared to throw myself back down if Jake turned around again.

Jake circled Phillip. "Back down, little brother. I've got an entire crew ready to save me."

Phillip gestured behind him, and the door closed and locked. The Force gathered around the lock, and Phillip smiled grimly. "I'd like to see your crew members get through that."

Jake smiled evilly. "You were too late, little brother. See?" he moved aside, and I threw myself back down on the floor just before Phillip saw me. "I've killed her. To get back at you, Mr. Special."

I opened my eyes and winked.

Phillip put a mask of anguish on his face. "How could you?"

Jake grinned in triumph. He raised his arms above his head, as if basking in his 'glory'. That's when Phillip made his move. He darted forward and held his lightsaber against Jake's neck.

"Don't move, big brother." he whispered. "I won't kill you, but I'll make sure your life is miserable after what you did." he put his free hand in his pocket and drew out a laser collar. "Normally for dogs, but I've made a change. You won't be able to take it off, and everyone you've ever exploited on this ship will be able to make you do whatever they want you to." He clasped the collar around Jake's neck and threw him outside

**Kyle:** Kaily's pain slowly melted away, and so did mine. I relaxed in my bed, where I had woken up. Tai told me that him and Derek had carried me in there, while I was unconscious. I took a drink of water, brushed my teeth and went to bed. I forgot about Kaily as I wandered through the dusty corridors of my mind, dreaming. Lana appeared before me. "Kyle, I love you..." her voice trailed off, and Tirina took Lana's place. "You can't like her. She's a shape changer." then, Tirina disappeared, and Phillip and Kaily's forms took shape. "Kaily, you're wounded." Phillip's voice said. Kaily's voice answered, "No, I'm not. It was just a piece sticking out of the corridor that made me stumble." they melted away. Confused, I walked down the dustiest corridor of all. An old woman appeared. I heard my father's voice saying, "What are you doing here, Old One?" The old woman smiled. "I am here to bestow upon your children the gift of connection. Whatever one of them feels, the other will feel. They will be able to talk to each other no matter how far apart they are, through their minds. But be warned! If for some reason one dies, the other will, too." The Old One disappeared, and I struggled to wake. I sat up with a gasp, drenched in sweat. I got up, padded to the bathroom, and washed my face, took a shower, and got back in bed. I sighed, and fell asleep again. This time, nothing woke me. I slept deeply and peacefully.

**Kaily:** As soon as Jake was gone, Phillip ran to my side. I stood before he had reached me, and even managed not to sway, although my world was whirling in front of me.

Phillip gathered me into his arms. "You're okay?"

I nodded. "Yes." we walked into the corridor, and saw Jake with a mop in one hand, a bucket in the other, on his way to the kitchens.

He shot me a glare. "You." I smiled sweetly. Phillip grinned and pressed something on his wrist. Jake winced and got back to work.

We were on our way to the ship, when a cold blast of air from a door opening hit my wound. I stumbled. "Kaily, you hurt?"

I shook my head, grinning at the worry showing on Phillip's face. "No, it was just a little piece sticking out of the floor that made me stumble."

Phillip relaxed, and we made our way to the ship. I walked up the gangplank, and fell into a chair, involuntarily gasping as the fabric of my tunic touched the wound on my chest.

Phillip's jaw clenched. "You ARE hurt. Come here," he said. I came. He got out a pair of first aid scissors and cut away some of the tunic.

I let the Force slip away, exhausted after the effort of concealing the wound.

He gasped as he saw the cut, and my side drenched in blood, appear. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his face hurt.

"I didn't want to worry you," I answered. "You were already stressed enough."

Phillip picked me up and set me on a bed. Then, he got the splicing glue and went to work.

**Kyle:** I got a summons from Master Skywalker and went to his quarters. "Kyle, I have good news. Kaily and Phillip have completed their mission and are on their way home!"

I was so happy to hear this that I hugged Master Skywalker and skipped out when he dismissed me with an embarrassed smile.

Tai and Derek were happy to hear that Kaily was coming home, too. I grinned when they started dancing around the room, singing, "Kaily's coming back, now Kyle won't be grouchy anymore!"

Suddenly, the door whooshed open and the girls from Kaily's dorm stood in the doorway. "Um, we heard a commotion over here, and we're wondering what it's all about." Marianne said. I smiled at the girls.

"Kaily's coming home." I stated. They whooped and and started dancing around with the boys. Lana twirled up and grabbed my arm, pulling me into the midst of the commotion.

Finally, the door whooshed open again. We all stopped dancing, bowed to Master Skywalker, and started again.

Master Skywalker looked surprised. Then, with a small laugh, he started dancing with us!

When we all went back to our respective rooms, there was an announcement from Master Lilly that there was going to be a special party that night. Not for Kaily and them returning, but because the annual feast was going on on someone's home-world.

We all got ready, dressing up a little, as this wasn't casual.

When we got to the feast, the Masters were all at one table. We ate, then Master Skywalker stood. "I have an announcement to make. Master Lilly," he said.

Master Lilly looked up, confused. "Yes, Master?" Master Skywalker walked around the table, grabbed her hand, and walked back to the front. I realized what was happening, and smiled.

**Kaily:** Phillip dabbed a little splicing glue on the wound, and pinched it together, but the glue didn't hold. "It's too big for splicing glue, Kaily. You'll have to wait til we get back to the Temple."

I nodded, amazed at how much a little stab could hurt.

Phillip gently closed my eyes. "Sleep, Kaily. Sleep will help the wound heal."

I let my head rest against the pillow, smiling at Phillip's concern. "Don't worry," I said. "It doesn't hurt as much as it used to."

Phillip bent his head towards me, but then turned around, voicing something that must have been eating away at him for at least half an hour. "Kaily, why was Jake kissing you when I got there?" he asked. His voice was quiet.

I reached out and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him down to a kneeling position beside me. I propped myself up on one elbow, and brushed a lock of hair from in front of his eyes.

"Because he wanted to get back at you." I told him. "But I don't love him, and I never will." _I love you, not him, _I thought to myself. I saw sadness spring to his gaze. "Oh, no. Not that. Not again. Once was quite enough, buster." with that, I let my head fall back to the pillow, as I had to rest again.

Phillip stayed right where he was, the sadness in his eyes deepening.

"All right, young man. You tell me what the trouble is, and I know it isn't mood swings, or anything like that, so don't try to fool me."

He smiled. "Fine. I'll tell you the truth. Kaily," he broke off, obviously unsure about how to go around saying whatever it was he was going to say.

The com bleeped, and he started to get up, but I stopped him. "Let it go. It has an answering machine for a reason."

Phillip nodded. "All right. Kaily, I...well, how should I put this?" he thought for a moment, then his face brightened. "Perfect."

I lifted an eyebrow, confused. But my confusion didn't last long. He kissed my temple, then, as I moved my head to look at him, he bent his head and brushed his mouth over mine.

"I love you, Kaily."

**Kyle:** I felt myself move to the edge of my seat as Master Skywalker placed his hands on Master Lilly's shoulders.

"Master, if you will explain, I am rather confused." Master Lilly said. Master Skywalker grinned. I cocked my head. I had never seen Master Skywalker grin before.

Then, as my heart started beating faster, he knelt. "Lilly, will you marry me?"

Master Lilly screamed, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him square on the lips.

A few seconds later, she pulled away. "I'll take that as a yes," Master Skywalker said as we all cheered.

Then, the party commenced. Master Skywalker sat next to Master Lilly, his hand on top of hers for the rest of the party. I wondered when Kaily and Phillip were going to get back. Master Skywalker had said Saturday, and it was already Saturday night.

Suddenly, Master Skywalker left. I vaguely heard a com bleeping. "Hello? Oh, hi. Uh-huh. All right. Really? Is she okay? Good. Bring her back as soon as possible." he hung up. He smiled at me.

_Don't worry, Kyle. It's nothing serious._

After a few minutes, a docking bay member walked up to Master Skywalker. He listened to the member for a few minutes, then beckoned for me to follow him. I did so.

**Kaily:** After a few minutes, Phillip left to call the Council, then sat back down in the pilots chair.

An hour later, we arrived at the temple. Phillip helped me stand, and I put one arm around his neck for support.

**Kyle:** I saw Kaily's ship land in the docking bay, and the gangplank go down. They walked down the gangplank, and I gasped.

There was a bandage around Kaily's chest. She was leaning heavily on Phillip, his hand hovering a little below her waist. She smiled at me.

Kaily: I forced a smile, trying to make light of an painful injury. "Hi, Kyle. I made it!"

Kyle crossed to my side, starting to pick me up.

Phillip laid a hand on his shoulder. "Let her do it. She can make it to sickbay. She's not that hurt." I smiled at him, noting that there was a ring on Master Skywalker's finger that hadn't been there when we left.

"Master," I said, bowing. He bowed back with a smile. "Are you engaged?" I asked, curious. He glanced at the ring.

"Yes."

I grinned. "Good for you. Now, if we can get on to sickbay, I need to get this treated." I staggered towards sickbay, thankful that it was only outside the hangar.

The sickbay attendant made me lay on an operating table, and then treated my wound. "Ah, painful, but not exactly serious. Be thankful that knife only clipped your lung. This could have been much worse. Also, thank all your lucky stars that your boyfriend got there before that boy killed you."

I blushed. "Oh, he's not-"

The attendant cut me off, a smile on her elderly face. "Of course he isn't. And that's why whenever he looks at you, you glow? And that's why whenever you smile at him, his heart rate goes up? Of course he's not you're boyfriend." She cut the excess string from the neat line of stitches.

I blushed again. "Okay, so technically he's my boyfriend. I'd just rather be friends, actually. I'm not ready for a serious relationship. I'm not up to it, either."

The attendant smiled. "There. Finished. You'll have to stay here until the anesthetic wears off, but after that you'll be fine. Now, if I may send in your brother and the young man?" I nodded. She left.

**Kyle:** the attendant for sickbay, her name was Amelia, came out wiping her hands on a paper towel. "You may see her now."

I burst into her room to find Kaily laying quietly on her bed. She smiled up at me, then her eyes turned to Phillip. Quickly, they turned away.

"It's okay, Kaily. I know all about it."

She grinned, her freckles standing out in her pale face. She'd lost a lot of blood. Phillip bent over and kissed her forehead, after glancing at me to make sure I didn't mind.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, go ahead. I don't care." I hugged Kaily, very carefully, then left.

Or at least, I left the room, closing the door mostly behind me. After they couldn't see me anymore, I turned and pressed my eye to the crack in the door.

I saw Phillip kneel next to Kaily, and press one of her hands between his.

"I was so worried about you." he said.

Kaily nodded. "Yes, I know you were. I could feel it." I grinned. Phillip grinned as well, then bent down and kissed her. I pumped my arm.

"Yes," I hissed quietly.

Kaily pulled away and looked around suspiciously. "Did you hear that?" I covered my mouth with my hands.

Phillip looked around. "Hear what?"

Kaily shrugged. "Must have been nothing." after saying this, she grabbed Phillip's arm and hauled herself into a half sitting, half reclining position.

Phillip reached down and put his hand on her back, helping her sit up. "You shouldn't be doing that," he said, obviously worried about her.

She slapped his arm playfully. "Relax, worrywart. The knife just clipped my lung. It only hurts a little." with that statement, I decided it was high time I left.

**Kaily:** I felt Kyle's presence leave the area, and gave a mental grin. He had seen us. I grabbed Phillip's arm. Pulling him down to sit next to me, I hugged him. I felt his heart beating frantically against mine and smiled. Phillip's pulse was way, way up. Amelia had been right.

"I love you," I whispered.

Phillip pulled away fractionally, to smile down at me. "I know." he whispered back. He kissed the tip of my nose, then walked out of the room.

Master Skywalker visited shortly after that, to ask my help for something. "Kaily, Master Lilly and I are going to get married. I would like you to help the other girls from your dorm make her a beautiful bride, even prettier than she is now. It'll be difficult, but you four can do it. I know you can."

I nodded and he carried me to my room. That was awkward. The Force had me mostly healed before we even made it, and he deposited me into the capable hands of Marianne, Lana and Tirina.

When Master Lilly arrived, we sat her in front of the dresser. The mirror hanging above it showed her face as we tried out different hairstyles and makeup combinations.

We decided on curls, light gold eyeshadow, and a wonderful light red lipstick. It looked marvelous on her, and so did the wedding robes. They were getting married the next day, as they had decided on wearing their Jedi robes for the ceremony. That night, I could barely sleep. I was so excited!

When the big day FINALLY arrived, Master Lilly arrived in our dorm wearing the traditional white robes. We sat her down and got her makeup on.

At the last minute, we decided on no lipstick. Then we led her to the Assembly Hall.

That's where they had decided on getting married. The Senior Jedi was already there. He beckoned Master Lilly to stand beside Master Skywalker. She did so.

The marriage ceremony went fast, and the next thing we knew, the couple was kissing. A mass sigh of approval filled the room.

"I present Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker!" we all cheered as Master Skywalker and Master Lilly walked back down the aisle again. Sadly, we didn't get to throw rice or blow bubbles, but it was still a fun day.

**Kyle:** I looked over at Kaily, she was sighing and wiping her eyes with the rest of the girls from her dorm. I guessed that they had done Master Lilly's hair, because it was a hairstyle that Kaily wore a lot.

Master Skywalker and Master Lilly got on a ship, for their honeymoon trip, and the rest of us looked to the Senior Jedi for direction.

He told us to go play, and walked into his room. We went to the game room, and Kaily and I got involved in a high speed game of foosball. We were on one team, Derek and Tai on the other.

While we played, Kaily kept casting amused glances at Marianne, Lana and Tirina, who were talking in a corner. Derek looked over there, too, but Tai managed to ignore them.

Finally, Kaily hit the ball to me, and I made a one in a hundred shot into their goal, winning the game 10 – 9. Kaily rubbed her wrists with a happy grin, shaking hands with first Derek, then Tai.

They congratulated each other, then turned to me. I shook their hands, then someone screamed. I jumped and whirled around. The blue skinned twi'lek girl, Brenalee, had jumped onto her friends back and was getting a piggy back ride. She was screaming as he jumped around like a li'nork, the silly girl.

Kaily and I looked at each other and grinned. Tai flung an arm over my shoulder, and led the way to a table in the back of the room. We got Virgin Daiquiris from the drinks bar and rested at the table, lounging in the comfortable chairs.

Kaily walked by with her friends, waving at me. I didn't know where Phillip had gone, so I asked Derek. He was usually on the up and up.

"Oh, he had to go home. Something about a crisis in his family. He left as soon as the wedding ended."

I shrugged. "All right."

Kaily wiggled her fingers at me from across the room, Lana pursed her lips and blew a kiss, Tirina rolled her eyes, and Marianne crumpled into a little heap.

The girls were beside her immediately, and Tai, Derek and I ran over as fast as we could. The rest of the kids didn't realize what had happened, and we left it that way.

We took Marianne, who was unconscious, into the hall and laid her on the floor.

"What do you think is wrong with her?" Kaily asked.

Derek seemed to know. He pulled back a strand of hair from her throat, revealing a bug that had it's head buried in her neck. "That. It may be tiny, but it's deadly. She must have gotten it on her mission. Did you by any chance go to Vega six?"

Tai nodded. "Yeah, that's where our mission was. Why?"

Derek bit his lip. "How long ago did she go on the mission?"

Tai shrugged. "About four days ago."

Derek breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. It's not to late. It's a good thing she isn't as strong as some other girls, or she wouldn't have had the symptoms this early. That bug," he gestured to it, sitting back on his heels, "Is native to Vega six. It's called the Black Death Beetle, though it isn't really a beetle, and it's deadly after six days, because it releases some kind of toxin into the bloodstream.

"If we can get it out without leaving the head in her neck, she'll be fine. It's picked a tough place, though. It'll be hard to get the bug out of her neck without rupturing the major artery running through there. Good thing I come from Vega six and have experience dealing with this, eh?"

**Kaily:** I picked up Marianne's hand, trying to take in what Derek had told me. "She'll die if we don't get it out before tomorrow, but if we try to take it out, she might die of a broken artery. It's a no win situation!" I burst out. I bent over and started crying. I couldn't help it. Marianne was one of my best friends.

Kyle put his hand on my back as Derek made a coughing noise, and I shaped up.

"I didn't say that. I said that it might be hard to get the head out with the body." Derek bent over and picked Marianne up, taking her to our dorm.

I opened the door, keying in the special code, and led the way to her bunk. It was the top one, so I told Derek just to put her on mine. Derek did so, and Kyle found and got out our emergency kit, handing it to Derek. He opened it, and pulled out a bandage, and a pair of tweezers.

"Wish me luck," he said, and got to work. He grabbed the beetle's abdomen and pulled gently. Marianne drew in a breath, though she was still unconscious, and moved her head, pulled the beetle out of the tweezers.

Derek growled something along the lines of "Hold her head still."

Lana and I grabbed her head, holding it still, while Tirina pulled her hair out of the way. Derek grabbed the beetle with the tweezers again, pulling slowly and gently. Marianne gasped, but she couldn't move her head again because of Lana and I.

Tears started running down my cheeks. We were hurting her.

Finally, Derek made a triumphant noise and held up the tweezers with the Death Beetle, it's head still attached, held in the points.

"She'll be fine, but she won't be able to talk anymore. The beetle had it's head dug into her voice box, and not that I've removed the beetle, the voice box won't work anymore. Don't ask me why, it's one of life's little quirks."

Marianne opened her eyes as Derek put the bandage over her neck, and smiled.

I smiled down at her. "Welcome back to the world, Marianne."

Marianne opened her mouth to say something, but then she put a hand to her throat and got a funny look on her face.

Derek knelt beside the bed. "The bug neutralized your voice box. It won't work anymore. That means you can't talk."

Marianne's face got a very sad look on it, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I know, I'd be upset if my voice box broke, too." Derek told her.

She sat up and started crying, silently of course. "Why?" she whispered to herself, then jumped.

Derek grinned. "I forgot to mention, you can still whisper. Whispering doesn't involve your voice box."

Marianne got a joyful look on her face, threw her arms around Derek and buried her face in his shoulder, whispering something. Derek blushed, so it must have been praise.

**Kyle: **Derek's face turned red as Marianne whispered something to him, but he had a pleased look on his face.

I grinned, and bent my head towards Tai, murmuring, "I think she likes him."

Tai grinned back. "Yeah, I'd think so, too, if she was acting like that around me."

Kaily pumped her arm behind Derek's back, winking at me. I shook my head. She was too much. Kaily grinned, then she and Tirina joined Lana on the bed as Marianne laid back to rest.

Derek patted her shoulder and rose to leave. I joined him, Tai falling in behind. We left, and as soon as the door closed Tai began teasing Derek.

"So, Mr. I-like-Tirina-better-than-Marianne, what was that all about?"

Derek's face got a little redder. "I dunno. I didn't ask for that to happen, you know."

I defended Derek. "Yeah, Tai, Marianne's in love with him, not the other way around."

Derek rolled his eyes and got a little more color on his cheeks, and that was the end of that. I grinned, and we walked into our dorm. The door swished closed, and we sat on our bunks, looking blankly at the one empty one.

"I wonder what the crisis was," I said.

Derek shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe someone died."

Tai pursed his lips speculatively. "Maybe. Maybe someone got badly injured, or somebody went to the Dark Side." we all shuddered.

Suddenly, the door swooshed open again, and Kaily walked in. "Hey, Derek, Marianne just wanted to say thanks again. She fell asleep right after she said that, so Lana told me to tell you. I'm supposed to give you a hug, but I don't think I will."

Derek put up his hands in defense. "No, please don't." We all laughed.

Kaily left after a few minutes of joking around. Derek had a funny look on his face as he watched her go, and even though I wasn't actually supposed to, I used my mind powers to find out what he was thinking about. I got a picture of him and Kaily kissing.

I fell off my bunk laughing.

"What?" Tai and Derek asked at the same time. I managed to stop laughing long enough to explain. Tai understood, and even though Derek was embarrassed that I had been reading his mind, he laughed to. "Yeah, it's pathetic, I know. But she's so much fun!"

I grinned. "Oooh, ammunition!"

Derek got a disbelieving look on his face. "You wouldn't."

I did my best to look cunning and evil. "Watch me." I closed my eyes. **Oh, Kaily!**

**Kaily:** I was just going back into my room when I heard a renewed burst of laughter from Kyle and his friends. I hoped they weren't laughing at me. I sat down on my bunk, and started reading.

Suddenly, Kyle contacted me. **Kaily!** He said in a sing-song voice.

**What? **I answered crossly.** I'm reading. Can you bother me later? **

Kyle laughed. **I could, but I thought that I'd mention something to you.**

A new voice in my head made me fall off my bunk. Luckily, mine was close to the floor. **Don't listen to a word he says, Kaily!**

I sat back on the bed, with Lana and Marianne looking at me weird. **Derek? Where'd you learn to mindspeak? **I asked.

He laughed inside my head. **I taught myself. It's not hard. It's fun, too.**

Kyle groaned. **Great. Now no conversation will be safe! Derek, Derek Derek. You are something else.**

Lana looked at me. "What's going on?" her eyes were confused.

"Yeah, you have the weirdest look on your face." Tirina added.

**Anyway, I have something to tell you, Kaily, **Kyle said.

**Don't listen to him!** Derek put in.

I laughed. **All right, Kyle, what is it?**

Kyle laughed. **Mwa-ha-ha-ha. Derek, I'm telling her! **He added.

**Don't you dare!** Derek replied and then they had a manly scuffle.

While they were tussling, I explained to Lana and Tirina about what was going on, and patched the conversation through to them. To find out what was going on, I politely asked Tai if I could see through his eyes.

He let me in, and I watched with amusement. Derek had Kyle in a wrestling hold, and Kyle couldn't get free.

"Tai!" Kyle said. "Help!" we laughed.

"You know Kaily's here, too, right?"

Derek sat up, looking around warily. "Where?" he sounded worried. "How much has she heard?" I thanked Tai and left.

**Kyle:** Derek finally released me from the hold he had me in, and I sat up. "How much did Kaily here?" He asked, obviously worried and more than a little embarrassed.

"I dunno," I said. "I'll ask her." **Kaily?** I called.

**WHAT NOW!? I'm just getting to the good part. Call back later, why don't you, when I'm not busy?**

I apologized and broke the mindlink. "Sorry, she's reading and won't answer. You'll have to wait."

Derek put his head in his hands. "Stupid hormones. I hate being a teenager."

Tai slapped his shoulder. "They don't last forever. Just think! Once you graduate, you can marry Kaily and have three kids!"

Derek groaned and fell back on the bed. "You're not helping, Tai."

I grinned. "I'm going to listen in on the conversation going on in the girl's dorm."

Derek and Tai gasped in unison. "You can do that?" Tai asked.

I shrugged. "Kaily and I used to do it all the time. We'd listen in on Caleb's com calls, and when his girlfriend came over, we'd spy on them." I keyed in on Kaily's mind, going in very slowly so she wouldn't notice.

"-eah, Kyle was trying to tell me something, but then Derek tackled him and he never got around to actually saying it," Kaily was saying.

"You know, I think he likes you," Tirina said.

"Who?" Kaily asked. "How do you know?"

Tirina laughed. "It's so obvious, Kaily, it's pretty sad that you don't know. He's been paying attention to you for the longest time."

Kaily sighed and fell back on the bed. "Oh, spit it out, Tirina. I don't know, so would you please tell me?"

Tirina grinned evilly. "I could...but I won't."

"TIRINA!" Kaily yelled.

"Oh, all right," Tirina gave in. "It's Derek. He obviously likes you."

I crept back out of Kaily's head, trying to think up the best way of breaking the news to Derek. "Okay, I found out."

Derek sat up, his face hopeful. "And?"

I sighed, figuring the direct approach was best. "Tirina figured it out. And Kaily made her tell her. Sorry, Derek."

Derek put his head in his hands again, rubbing at his forehead with his front fingers. "It's not fair."

I patted his shoulder. "It could be worse. She could be married."

Derek glared at me.

**Kaily:** I stared in surprise at Tirina, who was sitting back with an amused expression on her face. "You're kidding, right?" Tirina shook her head. Marianne was watching with amusement. Lana was doing her nails, but listening attentively.

"No, Kaily, I'm not kidding. He really does like you."

I pursed my lips. "Oh, boy. Joy of joys, Tirina, this news really made my day!"

Tirina grinned. "No need to be sarcastic, Kaily, we already know how you feel."

I looked up sharply. "About what?"

Tirina put a finger to the side of her nose. "Oh, a certain someone."

I dropped my chin onto my fists, trying to make sense of Tirina's comment. "Which certain someone? Phillip? Yeah, I like him. A lot. But it's just a passing fancy, probably. I won't end up marrying him."

Lana grinned from her bunk. "We all understand. You want to stop liking Phillip and start on Derek."

I glared at her. "That's not true."

Lana laughed. "Derek _is_ much cuter, so I'd understand. I'd do the same thing." The look on her face let me know she was teasing.

She walked over to her HoloYearbook and keyed up Derek's image. It floated a foot above the little gray disc, and I really couldn't help but notice that he _was_ cute. Largish dark blue eyes, black hair and strong features, not to mention his smile. I put that thought out of my mind at once.

"I'm not in the mood for this, Lana. Would you please turn that thing off?"

Lana complied with my wishes, and I relaxed. "If you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap."

Marianne grinned at me. "Dream of happy things."

"And Derek," Lana put in, and laughed to show she was kidding. I fell back on my bunk and went to sleep almost immediately.

**Kyle:** The next morning, I got up to find Phillip standing near the door. It had just opened, and the sound had probably woken me up. "Kyle, I have to tell you something," He said.

**Kaily:** When I woke up in the morning, Kyle was standing over me. "Shh," he said. "Phillip's back, and he wants to talk to you about something important."

I followed my brother out of the dorm after pulling a robe on over my pajamas. Phillip was standing in the hallway, and he smiled when he saw me.

**Kyle:** The joy of seeing Kaily made Phillip's face light up. He crossed to her and gave her a peck on the cheek.

Then, he took a deep breath and said, "Kaily, I have to take you and Kyle to a place far from here. It doesn't have a name yet. I'll explain on the way." He led us to a small gray space-ship, and took off. Phillip put the ship on auto-pilot and began his explanation.

"You see, Jerec somehow lived on after Kyle Katarn finished him off, I don't know how he managed it. But he wants me to be his apprentice. I accepted."

Kaily started to say something, her face shocked, but Phillip went on before she could talk.

"I'm not going to go to the Dark Side, I have to gain his trust so I can kill him. You'll have to act like I coerced you into this, though, otherwise he won't be convinced. He wants to kill you two, because you're a grave threat to the empire he's trying to create. Don't worry, though, you only have to be in the brig once we're inside his ship, because that's where he'll expect you to be. Okay?"

We nodded. A few hours later, Phillip put us in the brig and gave us some food and hot drinks to keep us company.

"Kaily?" I asked.

She looked up from her Insta-Cappa. "Yes?" She sipped at her cappuccino, waiting for me to continue.

"Kaily, whatever happens, trust me. Trust me. Okay?"

She nodded. "I will, Kyle. I promise."

Phillip unlocked the door to the cell and led us out. His voice got menacing as he said, "Follow me, dogs," but he winked at us.

We were led before Jerec, who was uglier in person than he was in that VidDisc that we'd seen all those days ago.

**Kaily:** Jerec walked up to us and glared down. Well, more like across. We were nearly as tall as he was. "You brought the two? Good. Well done, my apprentice."

Phillip bowed low. "Thank you, my Master," he said in return.

Jerec grabbed my chin with one hand, brushing my face with his other. "This girl, she is your girlfriend, yes?"

Phillip nodded. "Yes, Master, she is." Jerec nodded. "Very well, she will live. But this one will die," he said, gesturing in Kyle's general direction. I remembered that he was blind. "Unless, of course, he will convert?"

Kyle nodded. "Can I have a day or so to think about it, sir?"

Jerec nodded generously. "A day. Phillip, please take him and the girl to one of the more comfortable cells."

Phillip led us away, and locked us in two separate cells. At least they were comfortable, well furnished and had flush toilets. It could have been much worse.

"Kyle, you can't be considering his offer, can you?"

Kyle sighed, grabbing the bars with his hands. "I don't want to die, Kaily. I actually am considering his offer. I could help Phillip destroy him, which wouldn't be bad. Two are better than one. That way, one can distract him and the other can sneak up and kill him from behind."

I laid my forehead against the bars. "It's a good plan, to be sure, but what if something goes wrong? What if he has bodyguards we don't know about?"

Kyle snorted. "Nonsense. It'll be all right. Trust me."

I smiled. "I already promised that I would, Kyle, remember?"

He laughed. "Yes, I'm sorry. I forgot." We went to sleep that night feeling tired but vaguely satisfied with the way the day had gone.

The next morning, Phillip came and got me, taking me to see Jerec again. Kyle was still asleep. Jerec was waiting in his reception hall again, where we had gone the first time. He stepped forward and grabbed my jaw again, turning my face from side to side and feeling it speculatively.

"So this is your girlfriend, Phillip. She's very pretty, isn't she?"

Phillip nodded, smiling at me from behind Jerec. "Yes, Sir, she is." I blushed. Jerec let go of my chin and turned around to face Phillip.

"Well, then, we'll keep her alive and use her to get information. We'll torture her, if necessary." I felt the blood drain from my face at this statement, and my knees suddenly became very weak.

"Sir?" I managed to squeak out.

He turned on me impatiently. I bowed respectfully, my knees knocking. "I'm immune to Truth Syrum. You'll be forced to kill me."

Jerec grinned evilly. "Nonsense. "

Phillip coughed, getting Jerec's attention again. "Master, who will-"

Jerec cut him off. "Me, of course. I'm not that cruel."

**This can't be happening,** I thought. Jerec gestured for Phillip to take me back to my cell.

"Did he mean that?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Phillip looked away. "He never lies about something like that. I'm sorry, Kaily." He walked over to Kyle's cell and got him.

**Kyle:** I woke to Phillip opening my cell door. "Come on, Kyle, Jerec wants to see you."

I followed him into Jerec's reception chamber, trying not to seem terrified, which I was.

Jerec was sitting in his throne, looking malicious and blood-thirsty. "Ah, boy. Have you considered my offer?"

I had. "Yes, sir. I accept."

Jerec stood and descended the stairs leading to his throne. "Oh, excellent. Two of the strongest pupils in the young Jedi order on my side! Wonderful." He walked around me, his little visor thing glinting in the dim light. "But do you mean it?"

I nodded, swallowing hard. "Yes, Master, I mean it."

Jerec sighed with contentment. "Good, good. Phillip!"

Phillip bowed. "Yes, Master?"

"Take my newest pupil to his new quarters. Brief him and give him new clothes." Phillip led me away, not looking at me.

When we got to my quarters, Phillip pushed me inside, followed, and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, he opened them again. "There. Now he can't hear us. Why'd you join him, Kyle?"

I looked up from my seat on the bed. "To help you, Phillip. Two are better than one. I could distract him while you snuck up from behind and killed him, or something like that."

Then, with a sly look at Phillip, I added. "Then we can take over the galaxy!" I winked, trying to send my message across.

Phillip nodded once, showing he understood. "He is old and weak, we can take him no problem." We shook hands, and Phillip led me around the room, showing me how to work all the appliances and such.

He opened my closet, showing off all the dark burgundy clothes. "He'll want you to wear this. I have to wear black, because burgundy clashed with my hair." He shrugged. "Sometimes I hate having red hair."

I laughed. I got changed, then we went before Jerec again, this time as his apprentices.

"Kyle. As your first task, I require you to explain your silver hair. Though I must admit, it looks nice against the red." I bowed, trying to figure out how he'd known my hair was silver, since he was blind.

"Yes, Master, of course." I launched into my explanation, trying to remember all the details from history class. "Our kind lives on an ice planet, kind of like Hoth, only we don't have to worry about Wampas. We have these things called Borrajin, which are like a cross between a Wampa and a rattlesnake. They have poison tusks, which paralyze their prey. They like their meals alive. So only the people with hair that blended in with the snow and ice survived. They passed down that gene to their children, and pretty soon everyone had silver or white-blonde hair. Only the silver haired people could make it against the Borrajin. As we become older, the silver changes to white. By the time I am fifty, I should be completely white haired. That is the way things work on our planet."

I bowed again, figuring that it didn't hurt to be polite. "Is there anything else about my kind you would like explained?"

Jerec shook his head. "You and your sister seem to be almost like humans."

I tensed. "My sister. Is she all right?"

Jerec nodded. "Oh, yes, she's fine. She's in a nice cell, more like a room, in fact. You may see her, if you wish." I nodded, bowed, and left to find Kaily.

**Kaily:** I sat in my room/cell, trying to find a way out of it. I had already looked in the closet. Talk about revealing clothes! At least I had a needle and plenty of thread in an abundance of colors, and not to mention the rows and rows of dyes to color the white thread. I could alter the clothes as much as I wanted.

I flopped back on the bed, staring at the blank light purple walls that had once been white. I had changed the color using the dial on the wall. Digital paint was a good idea. Too bad it was to expensive for everyone to use on their walls. I only wished I had something to put on them.

I jumped and turned as the door swished open, preparing myself to fight against some mad molester, but it was only Kyle. He was wearing dark red, which looked nice against his silver hair, but that proved what I had suspected correct.

"Kyle, you joined him?"

He nodded, sitting next to me on the bed. "I had to, Kaily, otherwise he would have killed me!" **Don't worry,** he added via mindlink. **I didn't really convert.** **We're going to kill him, eventually. First I have to gain his trust. **

I nodded. **I'll help in any way I can.** Out loud, I said, "Well, that's a good reason, I suppose. It's as good as any."

Phillip had followed him in, but he couldn't hear our conversation. He had just heard the pause in between our sentences. He was wearing black, but that only made me feel worse, although the outfit looked good on him.

Suddenly, he looked up, his face blank, and left the room. "He was probably summoned," Kyle told me, and slipped me a comlink.

A minute later, he did the same thing as Phillip. I fell back on the bed again and cried. They would probably both die fighting Jerec. After all, he was a Dark Jedi.

Remembering the stories about Darth Maul fighting Qui-Gon and Ob-Wan and killing one, I shuddered. They would never survive.

**Kyle:** I followed Phillip to Jerec's personal quarters, which were, of course, dark red. He seemed to like that color. I hoped that Kaily would use the com to call for help, and that Jerec wasn't monitoring outgoing calls too closely.

We both bowed to our new master. "Ah, you got the message. Excellent. It has come to my attention that you two are plotting against me already. This won't do at all. That means that you haven't really joined me. So, in order to test your allegiance, I have a little test for both of you." He beckoned for us to follow him, and led us to the lowest level of whatever it was we were on.

"Kyle," he said, and led me into a room. It was mostly unoccupied, except for the emaciated man crouched in the corner. He was to thin to stand, and completely cowed. "Kill him," Jerec ordered, and stood back to watch.

I looked at Jerec in alarm, but thought quickly. "With what, my Master? You had my lightsaber confiscated, remember?"

Jerec laughed. "Good point. Use Sith lightning." I didn't know how, and looked at my hands in confusion. "Use your aggressive thoughts, just point and shoot. Simple," Jerec said. He left, calling after him, "I'll be back in two minutes. If he isn't dead, I'll have to kill you instead."

I stood in front of the man, who looked up. "I'm sorry, but I have to kill you," I told him.

He nodded. "Do it," he said quietly. "End the suffering he's put me through."

I backed up a little. "Be at peace," I told him, and used all the anger I had bottled up inside of me for various reasons to end his suffering quickly and humanely.

A minute and a half later, Jerec came back in to see me putting the body into the disintegrator. "Good, your little friend passed his test, too."

I stared at my hands. "Such power. It felt so, good." I said. I began to rethink our plan. The power, the lightning, it had felt to so good to let all the anger out of me. I began to get angry at myself for not letting it out sooner. And at that point, I gave in to every aggressive thought I'd ever thought and truly joined the Dark Side.

**Kaily:** I felt something inside of me change, and wondered what it was. I felt a little angrier, but let it go. I keyed in the code for Derek's comlink and called him.

"Hello?" came his tinny voice out of the tiny speaker.

"Derek? It's me, Kaily. I'm trapped aboard this... well, actually, I don't know what it is. But I'm trapped aboard it and I can't get off. Phillip and Kyle are plotting to kill Jerec, who is somehow still alive, but in the meantime, I'd rather get off this, whatever it is."

Derek didn't answer for a second, then said, "I received your coordinates, and I'm on my way."

I cut the transmission and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. At least I wouldn't have to stay here with this insane Dark Jedi and two crazy teenagers bent on killing him. A couple hours passed.

Then I thought of a way to get out of the cell/room thing I was trapped in. The Force! Why hadn't I thought of it sooner? I felt really dumb that the thought hadn't occurred to me before this.

I used the Force on the door, opening it, and managed to find my saber before wandering around Jerec's thing. I still wasn't exactly sure what it was.

Then I turned a corner, and there was Jerec waiting for me. I stopped short and bowed. "Sir," I whispered.

"Girl. You're supposed to be in your room. But I rather like your spunk, so I think I'll just make you my girl instead."

I backed up hastily and extended my lightsaber. The high-pitched whine made Jerec wince, but when he activated his own saber, the lower pitched noise drowned out mine.

"Bad move, girl," he whispered in a menacing way. "You forget who I am!" He swung at me, and I ducked, rolling away and springing up, raising my lightsaber to the ready position.

"No, sir, I haven't forgotten. You're the Dark Jedi who killed hundreds of innocent people." The battle began in earnest. I swung and he parried, swinging low, at my stomach. I jumped backward, hitting his saber to the side.

It went on like this for what seemed forever, never letting up or getting easier. I couldn't calm down enough to use my mindlink with Kyle, so I was on my own. I only hoped that Derek would get there before I got to weak to fight anymore.

Suddenly, Kyle entered the room. I almost relaxed, but then he activated his lightsaber , which was red, and advanced. On me. I backed up as Jerec deactivated his own saber and watched. At least, it looked like he was watching. He was blind, so he really couodn't.

"Kyle?" I asked, holding my lightsaber in the most basic defense maneuver. "What are you doing?"

He laughed, and the sound made me shiver. "I can't have you destroying my master before he teaches me the rest of the Dark ways, can I?"

I gasped. "You really did join him."

**Kyle:** I didn't recognize the girl in front of me. Her lightsaber was white, which made no sense. I only knew that she had been trying to kill my master, and that that would not do at all. I lunged and she blocked, and then we began to fight.

I lost track of all time, trying to defeat the girl and knowing we were to evenly matched. She seemed to be anticipating my movements, knowing exactly where I would swing next. Somehow, I was doing the same thing.

She didn't talk after what she had said first, preferring to concentrate on fighting, I assumed.

Finally, I gave up on my lightsaber and held it at my side. The girl stood warily, looking at me. "We're to evenly matched, girl," I said, and held my hand, palm down, so that all my fingers pointed at her. Sith lightning shot out of my fingertips. The girl's hand shot up, letting the lightning hit it, her hand moving back, and absorbed it, pushing her hand forward to shoot it back at me. I frowned. That wasn't supposed to happen. I deflected it towards the ceiling. I held my lightsaber up again, the girl standing at the ready.

"KYLE! What are you doing?" Another voice asked. We both jumped and turned. A red-haired boy with two yellow lightsabers was standing a few feet away.

"I'm going to end this now!" Jerec shouted, and lunged at the girl, extending his blade at the same time. The red-haired boy in black jumped in front of her, Jerec's blade going into his chest instead of the girls.

I turned back to the girl, and we began fighting again. The red-haired boy lay dying in the corner, but I didn't care. I didn't even know who he was. Suddenly, Jerec made a weird, strangled sound. I looked over to my Master.

There was a glowing blue blade extending from his chest, going right through where his heart was. He gasped, a confused look on his face, then collapsed as the blue lightsaber was pulled out. A black-haired boy with brown robes like the girls was standing behind my Masters body. "Kaily? Are you okay?" the boy asked in a worried tone. The girl nodded.

My mind cleared, and I dropped my lightsaber. It deactivated before it hit the floor.

**Kaily:** Derek looked worried, but otherwise seemed unhurt. I remembered Phillip and ran to his side. He looked up at me through green eyes that were slowly clouding over.

"Kaily," he said, touching my face. I nodded. "He loves you more than I ever could." His breathing became more ragged.

I looked at Phillip, at the boy I loved. "Who?"

Phillip turned his eyes up, to where Derek was standing slightly behind me, watching Kyle with wary eyes. "He does. He is... your life-mate, Kaily."

He closed his eyes, his breath coming more shallowly. I leaned over and kissed his mouth before he died. His body disappeared, leaving his clothes behind. I bent, grabbed his shirt and cried into it.

Then I stood, dropping the shirt again, and drew my lightsaber, just in case Kyle was going to try to kill me again. He was looking at Derek strangely, as if he was trying to remember something.

"You killed him, boy! Why?"

Derek shook his head. "Kyle, it's me, Derek. Don't you remember?"

I grabbed Derek's arm. "I think Jerec was using some kind of weird Force mind wipe or something on him. He didn't seem to know me at all, though he was using our mindlink quite well."

Kyle was kneeling beside Jerec, a confused look on his face. "Why was I fighting for him? He's the bad guy."

I knelt beside him. "Kyle, it's me. Kaily." Kyle looked at me, his eyes meeting mine. **Remember, Kyle. Remember,** I thought at him. I pushed my memories at him, showing us playing at Jedi Knights before junior high, when we were in third grade. Showing us listening in on Caleb's private comlink conversations with his girlfriend. Showing us freaking out our parents by doing dangerous stuff that we had under control the entire time. Showing us sleeping together in our cradle, back to back, with our silver hair. Kyle's eyes widened. I held my breath.

"Kaily," he whispered, and hugged me. I relaxed into his arms, laying my head on his shoulder and crying again.

"Thank goodness, you remember," I whispered into his neck.

He tightened his arms, but then let go of me. "Phillip. Jerec killed him."

I nodded. "He went to the Valley of the Jedi, Kyle. He died honorably."

Kyle buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking. Derek knelt next to him, his hand on his back. "It's okay, Kyle, you were under Jerec's influence."

I looked at Derek. "We'd better get back to the academy. Did you explain to Master Skywalker?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

We slowly walked back to the ship Derek had borrowed. It had been legitimately borrowed, so we didn't have to worry about getting expelled over that. It was leaving the Temple without permission I was worried about.

By the time we got back to the academy, Kyle remembered everything.

**Kyle:** I couldn't believe that I had forgotten my sister and my friends. That I had let one of my best friends die. That I had tried to kill my own sister.

When we walked down the gangplank, Master Skywalker looked at me severely. "Young man, what you tried to do was very wrong. But since you were under Dark Lord influence, we understand. You will not be expelled on that account."

He turned to Kaily. "You, young lady, are not going to be expelled, either. You were simply helping them defeat the Sith lord."

He finally turned to Derek, who was looking sort of guilty. "And you, young man, are not going to be expelled, either."

Kaily bowed to Master Skywalker and handed him a bag with Phillip's clothes in it. "Master-" She couldn't go any further.

Master Skywalker pulled her into his arms, comforting her. "I understand, youngling. You loved him very much, didn't you?"

Kaily nodded. "Yes, Master, I did." He took her to the Infirmary, to get her something to calm her down. I looked at Derek.

"I'm sorry, again."

Derek grasped my shoulder. "Again, it's all right."

I smiled at him, telling him the bit that I'd found out all those days ago from Kaily that I hadn't mentioned to him. "Derek, she really does like you. Honest. She just doesn't realize it."

Derek looked confused. "Who?"

I grinned, trying to look cunning and evil, but remembering what it was like, stopped. "I shan't tell you, seeing as you don't know."

Derek groaned, then tackled me. We had another manly scuffle on the floor, and Derek finally got me in a wrestling hold again.

"All right, all right! I surrender!" I howled. Derek let go. "Kaily. She likes you. Really, she does. I just didn't tell you before."

Derek shook his head. "She still loves Phillip, Kyle. It's not fair to ask anything from her until she stops hurting."

I frowned. "How long do you think that will take?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Two weeks later, we (meaning Kaily's dorm and what was left of my dorm) were visiting Marianne in the Infirmary. Marianne was going into surgery, now that she'd healed enough from the Death Beetle. Amelia, who also came from Vega six, knew how to fix Marianne's voice-box.

When I walked in, Tirina was bending over the bed,listening to something Marianne was telling her. She stood up very abruptly, her back ramrod straight in surprise, and stared at Tai, who blushed.

"That's not true!"

Kaily laughed. "Yes, Tirina, it is."

Tirina grinned at Kaily, then leaned forward about a foot and kissed Tai squarely on the lips. When she finally broke away from my other best friend, who was looking like he was in seventh heaven, she came over to me. "You need to get Kaily and Derek together, Kyle. She needs him to help her heal," she told me in a soft voice.

I heard a soft sigh and looked over Tirina's head. Tai had fallen back into an armchair and was staring off into space with a blissful look on his face.

"I think you made someone happy."

Tirina blushed really hard. "Well, I really did like him for the longest time."

I grinned. "You're right about Kaily," I told her softly. "I'll get them together today, if I can."

**Kaily:** I watched Kyle and Tirina whispering in the corner, but didn't really care. My heart still hurt, the spot that Phillip had occupied unbearably empty.

Marianne looked up at me. "It will heal in time, Kaily. I promise," She whispered.

I looked away. "Everyone keeps saying that. But you don't know what it's like to lose someone you really love."

Marianne's eyes got very damp. "Actually, I do. My older sister, whom I adored and idolized, died right before I came here. I watched her die, Kaily. She was going outside, taking the dog for a walk, and right in front of my eyes, a hovercar came flying from around the corner and killed her on the spot. It nearly killed me, too." Marianne was really crying now, her whisper becoming softer. "It never quite stopped hurting, it still hasn't, but I can forget about it most of the time. And now that I've found Seth," she smiled at the blond-haired boy with brown eyes that was sitting beside her, "it's nearly disappeared."

Amelia came out and wheeled Marianne into the operating room.

Suddenly, Derek looked at Kyle. Kyle's face was mostly blank, the way it always was when we were mindlinking.

Derek nodded, and grabbed my arm. "Well, people, Kyle told me to get Kaily a drink. He wants to stay here and talk to Lana," the others laughed, "so I'm going to take her." He led me outside and to the right, towards the drink bar.

But he stopped halfway there in a secluded corner. I looked around.

**This isn't the drinks bar, Derek.** I mind-linked, preferring not to talk.

He nodded. **I know. **

I raised an eyebrow. **So why are we here?**

Derek looked down at me from his towering height of six feet two and a half inches. **You know, you really aren't that tall. **

I put my hands on my hips, glaring up at him. **I beg your pardon! I'm five foot four, three inches taller than the average Morsican woman! **

Derek laughed. **You're still short.**

I pouted. **You're not nice.**

Derek sobered. **Kaily,** he thought, then stopped. Students were walking by and looking confused, since our conversation was through mindlink. Eventually, they just stopped trying to understand our facial expressions and just walked by. I dropped my hands from my hips, folding them behind my back nervously.

**Yes?**

He looked away. **Kaily, I'm sorry about what happened to Phillip.**

I felt the pain double, but I forced it away. **Yeah, me too.** He finally met my eyes again.

**But you have to let it go. You can't keep the pain bottled up inside, or it'll turn you bitter. **

I swallowed nervously. **What are you going to do? **

Derek half-grinned, the way Phillip had done so many times. The sight made my heart hurt even more. **What Kyle told me to, I guess.**

I put my hands on my hips again. **And just what was that, young man?**

Derek smiled, a slow grin that spread across his face. **This,** he told me. Then he bent his head towards me and touched my mouth with his. His hand touched my back, and my hands instinctively rose to his shoulders.

He pulled away again shortly afterwards. **I love you, Kaily.**

Right after those words, I felt something come to life inside of me. I turned it off again. Phillip had been right.

**I love you, too.** I told him. And I meant it. Although I wouldn't have admitted it to anyone for the life of me, I had actually liked him for a really long time, I was just in denial about it.

I explained our planets history to him, and how we would probably get married later in life. He was fine with it.

**It's similar to our planet,** he told me.

**Kyle:** I saw Kaily coming back with Derek, and looked at him. He nodded slightly. I relaxed.

Suddenly, Lana leaned across the arm of my chair and planted a kiss on my lips. "You know, Kyle, you're really cute when you do that."

I looked at her. "Do what?"

She laughed. "Grin, of course."

Kaily looked at me and explained what had happened. I had been listening in on it, but I didn't say that.

She put her hands on her hips, her eyes widening. **KYLE! How could you do a thing like that to your own sister?**

I felt my face get a guilty look. **Sorry,** I thought at her meekly.

She walked over and hugged me. **I forgive you, big brother,** she said with a smile.

Five hours later, Marianne came out of recovery. Her neck had a bandage, and she wasn't allowed to talk until a few hours later, but she was smiling.

When her alloted recovery time was up, she let out a squeal of happiness. "I can talk again!" Lana, Kaily and Tirina hugged her, and they danced in a little circle.

**You know, she's actually really fun,** Derek remarked, watching Kaily throw her head back and laugh. It was a nice sound, after two weeks of her barely smiling.

I punched his shoulder, and realized that we were nearly the same height. **You already said that, Derek,** I told him.

He laughed. **I was repeating myself, I know. But I really mean it.** Tai walked over.

"Tirina's a good kisser, you know." We looked at him with wise eyes.

"Most girls are, you know," Derek said, looked at me, and then all three of us cracked up.

Seth looked over. I beckoned him to join us. "Hey," he said in his quiet way. He wasn't much of a talker, which is why he was so perfect for Marianne. We sat down in a corner and watched the girls talking excitedly among themselves.

Lana came over in a few minutes and sat down next to me on the love-seat. "Kyle?" she asked.

I looked at her. "Yes?"

She looked away. "I have something I need to tell you."

Tirina came over. "You can't like her. She's a shape-changer."

I remembered my dream, and shook my head at Tirina. "I love her anyway. I've known for a long time. It doesn't matter to me."

With that, I kissed Lana's cheek. Tirina grinned. "I hoped it wouldn't."

Kaily and Marianne joined us. "Umm, can we go the drinks bar for real now?" Kaily asked. We all laughed.

"Yeah, a drink sounds really good right now," Lana said.

Marianne agreed. "My throat is sore from surgery. I need a lime ice."

Tai looked at Tirina. "We can share that Earth drink, what's it called, Root Beer? Yeah, root beer! A root beer float sounds good, doesn't it?" Tirina nodded shyly.

We all walked to the drinks bar and got our drinks. Dylan, our new dorm mate, joined us with his Earth drink called Coca-Cola.

He was actually from Earth, and he had his little sister with him. She was a Freshman, he a sophomore, and already a few boys were starting to look at her with interest. He glared at anyone who did. Both were sitting at the long table with us.

And as I watched Kaily and Derek laughing over something, I realized that I wouldn't change anything that had happened, even if I could. Life was perfect as it was.

The End


End file.
